Agroforestry

Agroforestry: What's It All About?

Agroforestry is the intentional combination of agriculture and forestry to create productive and sustainable land use practices. These practices take advantage of the interactive benefits from growing trees and shrubs together with crops and/or livestock. Agroforestry has its roots in tropical food production systems. In regions with more temperate climates, agroforestry is separated into five distinct but related practices. The five practices are windbreaks, riparian forest buffers, alley cropping, silvopasture and forest farming.

5 Types of Agroforestry Practices

To learn more about each agroforestry practice, click on the section title (ie: Windbreaks)

Windbreaks

Windbreaks are linear plantings of trees and shrubs designed to provide economic, environmental and community benefits. The primary purpose of most windbreaks is to slow the wind which creates a more beneficial condition for soils, crops, livestock, wildlife, and people.

Riparian buffers

A riparian forest buffer is an area adjacent to a stream, lake, or wetland that contains a combination of trees, shrubs, and/or other perennial plants and is managed differently from the surrounding landscape, primarily to provide conservation benefits.

Alley cropping

Alley cropping is defined as the planting of rows of trees and/or shrubs to create alleys within which agricultural or horticultural crops are produced. The trees may include valuable hardwood veneer or lumber species; fruit, nut or other specialty crop trees/shrubs; or desirable softwood species for wood fiber production.

Silvopasture

Silvopasture is the deliberate integration of trees and grazing livestock operations on the same land. These systems are intensively managed for both forest products and forage, providing both short- and long-term income sources.

Forest farming

Forest farming is the cultivation of high-value crops under the protection of a managed tree canopy. In some parts of the world, this is called multi-story cropping and when used on a small scale in the tropics it is sometimes called home gardening. It is not just recreational harvesting or wild harvesting of native understory woodland plants without management; management is an essential part of forest farming. This approach to crop production intentionally uses both vertical space and the interactions of the plants and microclimate.

See the forest farming page HERE.

General Resources: Learn More About Agroforestry

Cornell Small Farms Agroforestry Webinars

FREE Agroforestry Courses by the Savanna Institute

FREE Book: Agroforestry; A Primer

FREE PDF: Perennial Pathways; Planting Tree Crops by The Savanna Institute

FREE Infosheets: Understanding Agroforestry by The Savanna Institute

• English Version
• Spanish Version

University of Missouri Agroforestry Resources

• The Agroforestry Podcast
• Technical Guides

Last updated August 23, 2024