Agrisilvicultural agroforestry is the simultaneous growing of crops and trees or shrubs on the same piece of land. There are many different agrisilvicultural practices that can be distinguished by the environment, plant species and their arrangement, management, or socioeconomic functioning. Here are the major agroforestry practices.
Homegardens
Intimate, multistorey combination of various trees and crops around homesteads.
Alley cropping
Growing crops between hedgerows of planted shrubs or trees. It is quite modern agroforestry practice found mainly in Europe and North America.
Shifting cultivation and improved fallows
Land under natural vegetation is cleared, cropped with agricultural crops for a few years (2-3 years), and then woody species are planted and left to grow during the ‘fallow phase’ (10-20 years).
Plantation crop combinations
Agroforestry practice containing plantation crops (such as coffee, cocoa, tea, rubber, oil palm, spices, coconut, fruit crops, etc.) and/or shade trees, fuelwood/fodder trees, or shade tolerant herbaceous crops.
Taungya
Growing annual agricultural crops along with the forestry species during the early years of establishment of the forestry plantation.
