As a recently graduated wildlife major, I was a little out of my general comfort and knowledge range when I was accepted into the Peace Corps as an agroforestry volunteer.
It was a challenging situation, and a serious one. It would soon become my job to teach locals about agroforestry farms and share different practices they could implement.
幸运的是,和平队对我的任务进行了出色的培训,当我到达现场时,我相信农林业不仅是一种实用的环境解决方案,而且对几乎所有感兴趣并致力于实现它的人来说都是可行的。
The first topic during training was an obvious one. What is agroforestry?
农林复合经营是什么?
According to thePeace Corps, agroforestry is a land use agricultural system that integrates trees, crops, and animals on the same piece of land in order to get higher productivity, greater returns, and more social benefits on a sustained basis
To simplify, agroforestry is a mixture of trees, crops, and animals on the same parcel of land. It’s optional for either crops or livestock (or both) to be utilized while trees are a necessity for it to be considered agroforestry. Trees generally provide more than one service including shelter, shade, soil conservation/erosion prevention, green manure, or livestock fodder.
Why Agroforestry?
The “why” part of doing agroforestry can be understood in the latter section of the Peace Corps definition: Integrating trees/crops/animals on the same piece of land helps boost productivity by yielding multiple outputs that would ordinarily be produced on separate pieces of land.
You can receive greater returns per square foot this way and agroforestry may also increase social benefits by improving economic livelihood. If selling crops or animals is the goal, it creates higher crop diversity, and improves environmental habitat through increased land use diversity.
Easily Achievable Agroforestry Practices
While each practice of agroforestry could certainly be its own separate article, we’re going to do a brief overview of eight of the most common practices you can implement on your homestead.
Alley Cropping
Alley cropping is a practice in which trees or shrubs are planted in multiple rows with crops cultivated in alleyways between rows.
建议种植耐阴作物(如姜黄、姜、羽衣甘蓝),或种植树木行间留出足够的空间,以获得最大的光照和作物生长空间。
To see alley cropping in action, check out this video.
Windbreaks
A windbreak is when trees and shrubs are specifically planted to act as barriers to reduce wind speed and protect wind-sensitive crops, animals, and soil.
Windbreaks are especially common in Hawaii where it’s important to protect assets from wind damage and ocean spray.
Silvopasture
In agroforestry, silvopasture is when trees are either planted or maintained within pasture land for livestock production or cropland.
Silvopasture is advantageous for livestock production as the shade provided relieves stress on animals. The trees may be scattered throughout pasture and cropland, arranged in clumps, or both.
Here’s an example of some trees that were allowed to remain within cultivated pasture land for animal production.
Hedgerows
Usually, hedgerows are made of nitrogen-fixing species that help break up slopes. They’re regularly pruned to reduce excess shade and provide green manure soil cover.
Hedgerows are often associated with stereotypical American suburbia, and can serve multiple functions: live fence, windbreak, or erosion prevention.
Live Fencing
Woody plants are planted and maintained (often thorny species if livestock is involved or if pest wildlife species are an issue in the area) to create a border around the area of land you want protected/separated.
这通常是通过培养一个苗圃或购买幼树,准备外挂的树木,并种植在邻近(种植距离直接关系到您选择的物种为您的活栅栏)目标区域周围。
Woodlots
Woodlots are intentionally separated trees grown in narrow, block-style rows to serve as animal feed, green manure, firewood, or pollination for bee production. Typically,fast growing tree speciesare selected for this process.
Insect Barriers
An insect barrier refers to specific insect repellent tree species that are planted to keep pesky bugs at bay. Oftentimes, eucalyptus or neem trees are used.
防虫屏障可与其他农林复合方法结合使用,如树篱行、防止侵蚀、防风林和活栅栏,为植物和牲畜建立特别安全的环境。
That said, it’s uncommon agroforestry practice for these trees to be used solely as an insect barrier. They serve multiple purposes, whether that be windbreak, shade, or live fencing.
Erosion Prevention
This agroforestry practice is typically used on cropland and animal pasture where topographic features cause runoff and erosion issues. Trees are planted on edges of slopes orterrace borders通过根系稳定土壤,并随着时间的推移通过落叶和有机物的分解创造健康的表层土壤。
Check out this example diagram of agroforestry erosion prevention in action, courtesy ofResearchGate.
Pros and Cons of Agroforestry
Most agroforestry practices carry the same general advantages and disadvantages, so when you’re assessing whether or not agroforestry is something you’re interested in, this list could provide some basic, helpful insights.
Pros
- Creates natural border
- Increases biodiversity conservation
- Avoids monoculture
- Increases wildlife habitat and food security
- Is environmentally proactive (carbon sequestration)
- Helps stabilize and reduce soil erosion
- Provides shade from trees
- Provides microclimates (that increase water retention rates and allow for cooler localized climatic conditions)
- Is aesthetically pleasing
- Requires little-to-no maintenance, once established
- May yield increased crop production and diversity on the same parcel of land
- Provides natural windbreak
- Mitigates climate change
Cons
- Requires extensive management before establishment
- Needs extensive management after establishment in storm-prone areas
- Increases start-up costs and labor
- Takes significant time to establish if woody species are not present (not easy if time restrictions are in place)
Thoughts and Considerations
Understanding your goals and objectives for implementing a practice of agroforestry is going to be one of the keys to your success.
What is it you need to implement in your current agricultural setup?
- Maximizing yields of different crop species and crop returns?
- Stabilizing soil and decreasing erosion?
- 增加自然边界和恢复野生动物栖息地?
- 降低风速,保护农作物和牲畜?
There are many possibilities with beginning agroforestry, and depending on your desires, your practices may be carried out in a variety of ways.
If tree crop interactions are your primary objective and you choose to implement alley-cropping, it is important to understand the shade tolerance of your crop species. If the crop has low shade tolerance and your tree rows are too close, the excess shade could reduce crop yields.
树木修剪是农林业管理实践中最重要的部分之一。大树很难修剪,如果有树枝或大树倒下,可能会很危险。
有侧向根系扩张倾向的树木会抢夺作物的水分和养分。必须对多产的播种者进行管理,以防止在农作物种植区发生繁殖。
It is wise to consider the amount of labor and time you can give as well. If woody species are not already present, time spent establishing agroforestry on your land will be dramatically increased. If you desire many trees in your practice, labor will likewise be increased.
Agroforestry results can be easy to predict — as most homesteaders have basic knowledge of agriculture/forestry/ecology:
- Resource competition for shade, water, and nutrient competition can be anticipated.
- Changes in understory microenvironments create foreseeable results.
- Seasonal cycles of plant activity are well known.
- Studies have been done on responses to management for trees and crops that are easy to access and reliable.
Agroforestry is a great option for maximizing the usage of your land and doing so in an environmentally friendly way. The biggest drawback of agroforestry is the amount of time it takes for establishment of planted tree species, if they are not already present.
However, after establishment, agroforestry yields many fantastic results and is a great way to integrate environmentally diverse habitat into your homesteading. Whether you’re a landowner with just a couple of acres or have an abundance of farms that you maintain, the decision to practice agroforestry is one that will benefit your land and the animals.
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