Mixing trees and crops can help both farmers and the climate

[Judi Lynn]

Pine trees line a vineyard in Restinclières, France. Integrating trees with crops helps soil retain moisture and store carbon, plus farmers have extra sources of income.

AGFORWARD PROJECT/FLICKR (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Agriculture that includes trees boosts food production, stores carbon and saves species.


By Jonathan Lambert

42 MINS AGO

Maxwell Ochoo’s first attempt at farming was a dismal failure.

In Ochieng Odiere, a village near the shores of Kenya’s Lake Victoria, “getting a job is a challenge,” the 34-year-old says. To earn some money and help feed his family, he turned to farming. In 2017, he planted watermelon seeds on his 0.7-hectare plot.

Right when the melons were set to burst from their buds and balloon into juicy orbs, a two-month dry spell hit, and Ochoo’s fledgling watermelons withered. He lost around 70,000 Kenyan shillings, or about $650.

Ochoo blamed the region’s loss of tree cover for the long dry spells that had become more common. Unshielded from the sun, the soil baked, he says.

In 2018, Ochoo and some neighbors decided to plant trees on public lands and small farms. With the help of nonprofit groups, the community planted hundreds of trees, turning some of the barren hillsides green. On his own farm, Ochoo now practices alley cropping, in which he plants millet, onions, sweet potatoes and cassava between rows of fruit and other trees.

More:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/trees-crops-agroforestry-climate-biodiversity

[global1]

1. Do Trees Also Help In Situations Where Torrential Rainstorms Occur?.....

Do the root systems of trees planted next to crops take up or divert water from the crops so as not to waterlog and kill the crops?

Kind of the opposite effect than what they do in a drought situation.

Just wondering?