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Agroforestry (draft)
Agroforestry
is a global
tradition
What is Agroforestry?
Most people have not heard of Agroforestry but might have heard of food forests, traditional agriculture, indigenous agricultural practices, and permaculture. All these are either related, include elements, or a form of agroforestry.
Agroforestry is a land-use system that is the intentional integration of trees, shrubs, or perennial vines into agricultural crops and animal farming systems to create environmental, economic, and social benefits. It creates a more diverse system of plants on those that better mimic a natural ecosystem. It has been practiced in the United States, US-affiliated islands, and around the world for centuries.
Agroforestry incorporates three different farming systems: alley cropping, forest farming, and silvopasture.
Alley cropping involves planting crops between rows of trees to provide income while waiting for the trees to mature. The system can be designed to produce fruits, vegetables, grains, flowers, herbs, bioenergy feedstocks, and more. This type of system may also be called intercropping when the trees and crops are not in defined rows and alleys.
Forest farming consists of growing food, herbal, medicinal, botanical, or decorative crops under a forest canopy that is managed to provide ideal shade levels as well as other products using an already established forest. It uses different heights of trees and shrubs to produce food at different canopy levels to maximize production. Forest farming is also known as multi-story cropping. Traditional forms of forest farming were done by Native Americans and Hawaiians. Today, examples of forest farming range from the collection of mushrooms, to collecting herbs, and papaws.
Silvopasture combines trees with livestock and forage on one piece of land. The trees may provide timber, fruit, fodder, or nuts as well as shade and shelter for livestock and their forages, reducing stress on the animals from the hot summer sun, cold winter winds, or a downpour. These are traditional agroforestry practices that were common places in much of Europe till the 20th Century. Today, Silvopasture systems are the most viable and prominent agroforestry practice in the United States
Agroforestry has two linear practices: riparian forest buffers and windbreaks.
Riparian forest buffers are natural or re-established areas along rivers and streams made up of trees, shrubs, and grasses. These buffers can help filter farm runoff while the roots stabilize the banks of streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds to prevent erosion. These areas can also support wildlife and provide another source of income. Examples of this are often found around some United States river systems such as the Mississippi River.
Windbreaks shelter crops, animals, buildings, and soil from wind, snow, dust, and odors. These areas can also support wildlife and provide another source of income. They are also called shelterbelts, hedgerows, vegetated environmental buffers, or living snow fences. Examples of this are often found throughout the Great Plains of the United States.