admin | July 11, 2022
In this edition’s Farmer story from Senegal, we hear how growing native shrubs in farmers’ fields can improve crop yields. This is one example of how plants can help crops. There are many combinations of plants, trees, and crops that can be grown together to improve crop yields. When crops are used, this practice is called intercropping, in which two or more mutually beneficial crops are grown together to improve yields and/or produce quality. When trees or shrubs are used for this purpose, the practice is called agroforestry.
Here are some videos about intercropping and agroforestry from Access Agriculture. Watch to learn more about these techniques and share what you learn on air with your listeners so that they can apply these practices as well.
- Intercropping pineapples
- Intercropping maize with pigeon peas
- Growing annual crops in cashew orchards
- Flowering plants attract the insects that help us
Photo: Farmers standing in alley cropping farm with cowpea plants intercropped with maize in northern Nigeria. Credit: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.