What crops are commonly agroforested?

One of the main reasons why agroforestry is done is people would like to maximize the growth of the plants that they are trying to grow. Maize is one of the important crops that people use in agroforestry. This is drought resistant, so it will be able to survive even the worst weather.

If it would be paired with other crops, it should be with crops that are non-competitive and will be able to take it even if they do not get as much sunlight as the maize. Beans are crops that will work well with the maize since they do not require a high temperature in order to grow. Cassava can also work well with the maize and beans since this does not require as much water and would be able to survive even in poor quality soil.

It is important to understand what agroforestry is first. This is the process by which shrubs and trees are planted in order to enclose certain areas. This can be effective in improving crop production because the soil where the crops will grow will be greatly enhanced. Soil conservation is also another benefit that this can provide.

What are the plants that are used for agroforestry? You may normally see some fruit plants and nut plants that can grow with each other. There are also some that would use corn crops. There are also some reports that walnut trees can be effective for this. It will depend on where agroforestry will be done.

If you are driving down the rural road, you may run across a plot of land that has crops and in between the crops or around the edges of the rows, you may see some trees or bushes that have been planted and are growing around these crops. This is known as agroforestry.

This type of land use is often seen in Africa and the United States. There are two main types of cropping among the agroforestry and these are called strip cropping and alley cropping. Different crops are used for these types of cropping. In alley cropping, you may see walnut trees among the corn crops. In strip cropping, the crops are fruits and nuts. There could also be maize grown as well.

Banana It is often used as middle or upper storey crops with other crops like Irish potatoes being grown underneath. Sometimes, they are mixed with taller trees.

Coffee and cocoa Coffee is also one of the common agroforestry crops grown by farmers. It enables farmers to grow tress in many spatial arrangements with other crops. Pumpkin It large leaves and horizontal growth patterns provides additional shade and moisture retention. It does not compete with crops that grow vertically for sunlight.

Nitrogen fixing tress Sesbania sesban, Faidherbia albino and Gliricidia are trees that fix nitrogen which results in introduction of more nitrogen to the soil.