Agroforestry Type: Silvoarable

Walnut in silvoarable alley cropping system. Startup and first results of a long-term practice-oriented agroforestry research field in Flanders, Belgium

This poster (presented at the EURAF 2024 conference) presents the initial setup and early outcomes of a walnut-based silvoarable alley cropping system in Flanders, Belgium, demonstrating practical feasibility, ecosystem benefits, and tailored agroforestry practices to support adoption among Flemish farmers.

Czech Association for Agroforestry (CSAL)

A voluntary non-profit organisation that promotes agroforestry practices in the Czech Republic. It connects the interests of agroforestry farmers, scientific organisations and agricultural consultants and focuses primarily on education, raising awareness and exchanging information about agroforestry between farmers, advisors and other groups. The goal of the association is to raise awareness of the alternative use of agricultural land in the style of agroforestry systems, and to improve the condition of the soil and the environment without reducing production. It is a very important platform for the exchange of information (the website hosts many useful resources such as videos, reports and newsletters), and organises meetings, educational events and presentations on agroforestry issues in the Czech Republic.

Farming with trees: a potential ‘win-win’ for sustainable food production and biodiversity?

This downloadable pdf briefly explains the findings of a PhD study investigating the effects of integrating trees into arable land on biodiversity and food production. It provides information on the research questions, the farms involved, pests and weeds, benefits of allowing understoreys to flower, biodiversity and pollinators, and productivity and income. You can access the complete thesis and associated publications via the link.

Agroforestry Pollinator Plantations for the Future

The app will firstly give you access to Forest Research’s state-of-the-art Ecological Site Classification (ESC), APP model, giving you information on suitability of tree species, also allowing you to see how climate change will likely affect your holding. Future climate scenarios adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) show Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) of greenhouse gases concentration trajectory, all of which are considered possible depending on the volume of greenhouse gases emitted in the years to come. RCP is directly linked to global mean average temperature in Celsius.

These tools will enable you to make an informed choice of which wild species trees have the greatest chance to survive climate change predictions on your land site. Information on other outputs from trees in farming to help you assess how it fits with your other enterprises and business is also included, as well as ideas for planting schemes and configurations. Planting in mixed species stands provides the best outcome for both tree species and their pollinators as this provides forage over a greater part of each season, helping ensure pollinators don’t starve. APP4future schemes also provide habitat and forage for pollinators, whose populations are declining. Supporting pollinators is vital for nature and our farmed landscape, increasing pollination and yields of all insect-pollinated crops.

SIGNAL – Sustainable intensification of agriculture through agroforestry

SIGNAL is part of the funding initiative BonaRes (Soil as a sustainable Resource for the Bioeconomy) which aims to improve soil functions through the development of sustainable management systems and increase understanding of soils, soil processes and soil functions. The project aims to evaluate whether and under which site conditions agroforestry in Germany can be a land use alternative that is ecologically, economically, and socially more sustainable than conventional agriculture. The effects of agroforestry systems on soil ecological properties are being investigated at 4 arable and 2 grassland sites in the north-east of Germany. Project information and various publications can be accessed via the website (mainly in German).

LivinAgro: Cross Border Living laboratories for Agroforestry

Funded by the European Union, the LIVINGAGRO project aims to share innovations in agroforestry with stakeholders working with olives and grazed woodlands in Mediterranean countries, to help them increase profitability, sustainability, and biodiversity, in the face of limited resources and environmental constraints. It tackles these issues using an open innovation approach, with two Living Laboratories enabling interactions among innovators and stakeholders.

The two labs focus on olive multifunctional systems and grazed woodlands. Traditionally olive orchards were, and often still are, managed as agroforestry systems, in combination with cereals, fodder legumes and/or pasture. Grazed woodlands are major agroforestry systems in the Mediterranean that contribute greatly to sustaining local economies, supplying both vegetal and animal products.

The project involves 6 organisations from 4 different countries; Italy, Greece, Jordan and Lebanon. You can access publications, descriptions of field trials, and sign up to get project newsletters giving detailed information from the living labs.

AgroForAdapt

AgroForAdapt is a EU LIFE project promoting agroforestry systems for climate change adaptation of agrarian and forestry sectors in Mediterranean areas. It focuses on two types of agroforestry systems: silvoarable and silvopastoral, with the aim of obtaining benefits resulting from the interactions between the trees and the crops or livestock.

The project aims to evaluate and demonstrate how Mediterranean agroforestry systems are a land use that promotes resilience to drought and forest fires, while improving the provision of multiple ecosystem services i.e. protecting biodiversity, income diversification, profitability, carbon fixation, landscape and socio-cultural values etc. It aims to increase the Mediterranean demonstrative agroforestry area by installing or improving the management of 291 ha of silvoarable systems and 511 ha of silvopastoral systems and inducing the replication of additional 300 and 1,075 ha, respectively. It is focused on developing and applying innovative tools to evaluate ecosystem services and vulnerability to climate change, facilitating the design and prioritisation of areas to install agroforestry systems, and evaluating the long-term performance of demonstrative agroforestry systems.

Various publications and resources will be accessible / can be accessed via the website (some are in Spanish only).

Tree: crop interactions in UK alley cropping agroforestry systems: impacts on crop yield and total productivity

Woodland Trust Research Briefing (authored by Jo Smith and Sally Westaway) reporting on studies carried out within an organic silvoarable alley cropping system in the UK (Wakelyns Agroforestry in Suffolk), where researchers have investigated the impact of trees on crops in the adjacent alleys. The main limiting resource for plants is usually light and some studies have shown that shading from trees has reduced yields in temperate agroforestry systems. The briefing divides the research into sections focusing on cereals and timber trees, fertility-building ley and short rotation coppice willow, cereals and short rotation coppice willow, and total productivity, and includes modelling calculations using an agroforestry model called Yield-SAFE. It can help look at productivity of an agroforestry system over time, by predicting daily growth of the trees and crops in a particular system using local weather, soils and management data.

How can agroforestry contribute towards biodiversity conservation?

This is the recording of an online workshop hosted by the Organic Research Centre (ORC) in October 2021 and organised as part of the Farming the Future programme. It set out to explore how agroforestry could contribute towards the conservation and restoration of biodiversity, and the policy options that could support the realisation of these benefits. Chaired by Colin Tosh, Senior Agroforestry researcher at ORC, it features Tom Staton, University of Reading PhD researcher on agroforestry and biodiversity in arable systems (particularly focusing on natural pest control and pollination), Devon-based farmer Carolyn Richards, who reflects on her experiences of developing silvopasture with a view to better managing her herd and enhancing biodiversity, and Helen Chesshire – Senior Farming Advisor for the Woodland Trust who asks how the UK policy might help agroforestry achieve biodiversity goals. It also features a lively interactive discussion with delegates.

Wakelyns Agroforestry: Resilience through diversity

Wakelyns, surrounded by a sea of large-scale conventional arable production, is an oasis of trees, alive with bird song and insects. Integrating trees for timber, energy and fruit production into an organic crop rotation, this 22.5 hectare innovative farm was established by the late plant pathologist, Prof. Martin Wolfe, to put into action his theories of agrobiodiversity being the answer to achieving sustainable and resilient agriculture. Marking 30 years of agroforestry at Wakelyns, this recently updated publication celebrates the work of Martin and Ann, fellow researchers from the Organic Research Centre and the wider research and Wakelyns community; as evolved and expanded on by their son David Wolfe and his wife Amanda from 2020. It tells the story of Wakelyns and includes sections on diverse cereal populations, impacts of added diversity on insects and birds, food and energy production, enterprise stacking, ramial woodchip trials, pond restoration and creation, research focused on tree / crop interactions, and sustainability assessments.

Skip to content