Alley Cropping—Agroforestry Systems
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Innovative Cropping Systems".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2021) | Viewed by 18162
Special Issue Editors
Interests: innovative and sustainable cropping systems; bioenergy; ecosystem services; climate change
Interests: agroecology and sustainable cropping systems; on-farm research; ecosystem services; climate change
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Agroforestry systems are often described as sustainable practices to mitigate and adapt to climate change, avoid nutrient losses, and to preserve and enhance biodiversity and soil functions—in short, to increase ecosystem services. Especially in terms of climate change, the establishment of agroforestry systems has been proposed to enhance microclimate with the effect of an optimized water supply.
Modern agroforestry systems are mostly designed as alley cropping systems to produce woody biomass (for energetic utilization or quality wood) by integrating parallel strips of trees into conventional agricultural sites (arable land and grassland) using conventional machinery. In recent years, many different alley cropping systems have been developed worldwide, and many research studies have been conducted.
This Special Issue intends to provide insight into these research activities and to show the diversity of alley cropping systems and their ecosystem functions. Therefore, research articles, reviews, short notes, and opinion articles are welcome.
Dr. Rüdiger Graß
Dr. Ralf Bloch
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- agroforestry systems
- alley cropping
- utilization of woody biomass
- ecosystem services
- agroecology
- sustainability
- climate change
- competition effects
- synergy effects
- yield
- quality
- agricultural technology: management aspects
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