Agroforestry

Agroforestry is a term used to designate land management systems that combine woody species (typically trees, palms, bamboos, and shrubs) with agricultural crops. The combination may be concurrent (both woody and crop species organized spatially, such as by intercropping), or occur in temporal succession (agricultural crops succeeded by woody species or vice versa); and in some cases it also may incorporate animal species. Various forms of agroforestry have long been practiced in diverse regions of the world; perhaps the best known examples come from studies in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

Combining agriculture with the cultivation of tree species can have ecological, economic, and social benefits. Ecological benefits include the at least partial replacement of vegetative (tree) cover in agricultural areas to resemble the natural structure ...