SF 144 (Agroforestry Systems)

AGROFORESTRY
Concepts, Systems & Practices

http://www.dnr.cornell.edu
Agroforestry = Trees + Non-tree Crops and/or Animals
Agroforestry:
A collective name for land-use systems and
technologies where woody perennials are
deliberately used in the same land
management unit as agricultural crops
and/or animals either in some form of spatial
arrangement or temporal sequence.
(Lundgren and Raintree 1983)
 Combination of crops in agroforestry

Growing crops together

at the same time Growing crops in rotation

Fodder

Materials from one are used to benefit another

 Agroforestry includes a recognition
Sun light of the interactions of crops, both
favorable and unfavorable.

Trees Trees

a
Crops
c c
a
Litter Litter
Litter Litter

d d d
Negative effects Positive effects
a = shading c = Litter fall
b = root competition d = deep roots of trees
act as ‘safety-net’
Trees in agroforestry
 Helps conserve soil,
especially on hillsides
 Improve of soil fertility
 Add beauty
 Provide shade
 Source of materials or
products (food, lumber, sap,
resins, tannins, medical
compounds, fuel)

Legumes fix nitrogen

Crops (non-tree crops) in
agroforestry
 Crops for making money.
 Crops for feeding the farmer.
 Crops for good nutrition.
 Crops for self sufficiency.
 Crops for feeding the animals.
 Crops for protecting the soil.
Animals in agroforestry
 Animals for making money.
 Animals for feeding the farmer.
 Animals for supplying labor.
 Animals for non-food products.
 Animals for using crop residues.
 Animals for furnishing manure.
Benefits from Agroforestry
Maximum use of land
Increases production/income
Grass strips hedgerows

Conserves soil
 Green terraces
enriches the soil
and effectively
controls erosion

Organic materials such as straw, stalks, twigs,

branches and leaves, and also rocks and stones,
are piled at the base of the rows of nitrogen fixing
trees. As the years go by, strong, permanent
terraces will be formed which will anchor the
precious soil in its right place.
A-frame is used to locate contour, and so
is the “cow back” method.
Improves soil
 Improves soil

N etlik e stru ctu re P ro v ide sta b ilizin g fo rce

b in ds th e so il ag ain st ero sion
E xcrete su b stan ces
H a rb ors so il n ee de d for ch em ica l
m icro o rg an ism s/ w eathe rin g
C e n ter o f m icrob io log ical
a ctivity
E n h an ce s ch em ical D e cayed ro ots tu rn to h u m u s ;
w eathe rin g h u m u s fille d spa ces s erve
as pa ssag e o f w a te r, air,
an d roo ts o f yo u n g er p lan ts
In creasin g so il de pth
M o d ify so il h o rizo n /p rofile
E x tract n u trien ts fro m de ep soil
a n d th en d istribu te n u trie n ts th ro u g h
A n ch o r th e so il m an tle to su b strate litte rfall
Protects water sources
 timber

wheat

rice corn
Short term food production offsetting cost of establishment of trees
Short-term crops providing income while
while farmers are waiting for the
permanent crops to bear fruit, or for timber
to be harvested

 Agroforestry = Short-term crops +

Long-term crops
 Agroforestry = Short-term investment
+ Long-term investment
 Economic implication: reduced risks
because of diversification of crops
 Makes
unproductive
lands
productive

Economically
productive !

Cogon
Long term production of fuelwood and timber
Agroforestry systems in the
Philippines and the humid tropics
1. Indigenous agroforestry systems
2. Alley cropping system
3. Multistorey systems
4. Live fence/Boundary planting
5. Windbreak systems
6. Taungya system
7. PICOP system
8. Silvipastoral systems
9. Forest in agroforestry systems/Agroforest
 e.g., Rice-terraces forest system

Indigenous agroforestry systems

 Fallowing

Indigenous agroforestry systems

Alley cropping systems
SALT is an alley cropping systems
Sloping Agricultural Land Technology
SALT is a package technology on soil conservation
and food production, integrating different soil
conservation measures in just one setting.
Coconuts

Gliricidia
Cacao

Cassava

Multistorey Systems
Live fence/Boundary planting
Windbreak systems
Taungya system
Farmers grow timber on 80% of the land that
PICOP owns; the remaining 20% used for
growing agricultural crops.

PICOP system
Silvipastoral systems
 Gmelina arborea

Grass + LCC (Callopogonium)

Silvipastoral systems
Forest in Agroforestry systems
Problems?
Agroforestry will provide solutions.
Maraming Salamat Po!
Notes
 SOME FACTS AND FIGURES ON THE ORIGINAL SALT (Sloping
Agricultural Land Technology) Farm
Location: Kinuskusan, Bansalan, Davao del Sur, Philippines

 Area: 1 hectare
 Slope: 25%
 Climate: Type D (with about 100-125 inches of rainfall per
year)
 Soil: Miral Clay Loan
 pH: 5.5; Low N: Low P; Medium K
 Total length of NFTS hedgerows = about 2,000 linear
meters
 Total biomass production for a one hectare SALT project
with double hedgrow of Flemingia macrophylla and
Desmodium rensonii
o Fresh weight 32 metric tons
o Dry matter 7.2 metric tons
 Nutrient content of a Flemingia/rensonii based double
hedgerow system:
o N = 3.20%
o P = 0.30%
o K = 1.00%
 Corn yield per hectare:
o Without fertilizer or leguminous biomass = 1.3 tons
o With leguminous biomass from hedgerow only = 2.7
tons
o With commercial fertilizer = 3.7 tons (100-50-0)
 Per P=1.00 investment SALT will give you a net return of
about:
o P0.05 or 5% during the first year
o P1.04 or 5% during the first year
o P1.31 or 5% during the first year
o P2.07 or 5% during the first year
o P4.15 or 5% during the first year
Proof of better production and income
APPENDIX A. Cost and return analysis of the SALT Demonstration Plot, 1980-1989 (in
Pesos) 1 hectare.
Year Gross Income Total Expense Net Income Net Income / Mo.
1980 5,693.20 1,117.50 4,575.70 381.31 **
1981 3,055.45 583.25 2,472.20 206.02 **
1982 9,007.30 1,833.10 7,174.20 597.85 **
1983 6,471.33 1,228.55 5,242.78 436.90 ***
1984 14,287.36 1,741.75 12,545.61 1,045.47 ****
1985 15,559.62 1,858.34 13,701.28 1,141.77
1986 13,294.88 1,710.07 11,584.81 965.40 *****
1987 17,257.75 3,062.13 14,195.62 1,182.97 ******
1988 13,869.82 2,764.55 11,105.27 925.44
1989 18,795.73 2,814.85 15,980.88 1,331.74
1990 17,310.63 1,982.90 15,327.73 1,277.31 ***
* Seeds, insecticides, fertilizer. No labor expense is included because the farmer uses his
own labor.
** Permanent crops were not yet producing.
*** Droughts occurred in Mindanao in 1983 and 1990.
**** Permanent crops commenced producing.
***** Psyllid infestation of Leucaena luecocephala was at highest level.
****** No ipil-ipil available; used commercial fertilizers. Leucaena hedgerows were replaced by
Flemingia macrophylla.
Hedgerows take area of farm out of
production thereby reducing production
Yes, this is true particularly during the first year or first
few years. But once hedgerows are contributing to soil
fertility, production will increase. For example, in SALT
demo farm, it was reported that the yield of corn
increased by fourfolds.

Hedgerows occupy approximately 20% of the farm.

Ipil-ipil prunings, 20.37 ton/ha
• 291.97 kg N or 12.7 bags of urea (45-0-0)
• 153 kg P or 13.6 bags of solphos (0-20-0)
• 101.85 kg og K or 13.4 bags of muraite of potash (0-0-
60)
Hedgerow interval
Slope (%) Interval (m)
10-15 25-30
16-25 20-24
26-40 15-19
41-60 10-14
>60 4-9
Characteristics of desirable trees
• Nitrogen fixers
• Multiple uses
• Must not cast too much shade
• Deep rooted but roots should not
spread too much
• High, small, open crown and sparse
foliage
Recommended species:
-Ipil-ipil (leucocephala and diversifolia)
-Calliandra tetragona/colothysus
-Flemingia macrophyalla
-Gliricidia sepium
** Cassia species are doubful nitrogen fixers
 Some agroforestry species
Flemingia strobilifera

Stylosanthes guyanensis

Flemingia macrophylla - A Valuable

Species in Soil Conservation

Desmodium tortuosum Desmodium triflorum
2.15.22 attendance