Important field crops, vegetables, fruits and forage suitable for agroforestry plantation
- Field crops
Most of the field crops are susceptible to heavy tree shade. Therefore, tree management is one of the most important operations for reducing the shading effects of trees on agriculture crops. The most suitable agriculture crops for agroforestry practices are as follows:
- Wheat/oat/barley in popular plantation areas because popular is a deciduous plant which sheds leaves during wheat growing season.
- Maize and millet, (maize mixed with cow peas, soybeans) tolerate light shade.
- Vegetables
- Heavy shade tolerant vegetables and spices- Yam, Colocasia, Sweet Potato, Ginger and turmeric.
- Moderate or light shade tolerant- Bitter Guard, Beans, Peas, and remaining other vegetables, which tolerate light tree shade.
- Fruits
- Heavy shade tolerant- Pine apple
- Moderate shade tolerant- Papaya, banana etc
- Light shade tolerant- Lichi, lemon and others etc
- Forage species
- Heavy shade tolerant- Desmodium, Forage peanut
- Medium to light shade tolerant- Cocksfoot, Mott Napier, Molasses etc