Description

Abstract: Alley cropping is a system whereby annual crops are planted between rows of trees, which are pruned during the cropping season and the prunings applied as mulch or green manure (Kang et al., 1984). During periods where no crop is grown, the trees are allowed to grow freely. Alley cropping has shown much promise during the past two decades as a technology suitable for small farmers in the third world. It improves soil by improving fertility and moisture retention, recycling

plant nutrients, and reducing erosion (Kang et al., 1984). Alley cropping has promise on steeplands, where it can serve the purposes of sustaining crop production, while also doubling as a soil and water conservation barrier.

Successful implementation of alley cropping in a particular environment requires selecting the appropriate hedgerow species for that environment. Climate, soil, and tolerance to local pests and diseases must be considered when selecting suitable species for alley cropping. Management practices, such as the possibility of grazing by livestock, must also be considered. Systematic studies that assess a wide range of hedgerow species under different sets of environmental conditions are lacking in the scientifi c literature. Much of the research on alley cropping has been conducted using a single or very few hedgerow species. In some cases, researchers have concluded that alley cropping was unsuitable for a particular environment when, had they used an alternate species, their conclusions might have been different. Information on the contribution of different species to soil fertility improvement is also lacking. This research was originally undertaken because of the need to identify appropriate species under different conditions in Haiti, but the results have wider application within the tropics with similar climatic and soil conditions.