Understory management in alley cropping systems in France

Policy Briefings

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Apple orchards grazed in France - Increasing the profit from your orchard

Why graze orchards with sheep?

Sheep can reduce the cost of grass mowing in orchards
Sheep can promote nutrient retention and cycling within the orchard
Sheep can eat fallen leaves (a refuge for apple scab spores) and fruits (a refuge for pests such as sawfly andcodling moth) which should result in reduced need for pesticide applications
Sheep could reduce vole populations (which can damage trees)
Grass can be used to maintain ewes or fatten lambs, which can increase farm income

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Featured Farm of the day

Combined production of apples and beef in Poland

Andrzej Majerski’s farm is an organic family farm in Southern Poland (Małopolska region, Łącko district) of 24 ha which includes 10 ha of arable land (mowing-grazing usage), 1 ha of old orchards, 1.5 of new orchards and 12 ha of forest. The conversion of the farm to an organic system started in 2005 to provide value-added food products and improve farm income at the same time.

Managing non-crop vegetation within the field

If trees and crops are the productive components of the agroforestry alley cropping systems, a third component must be considered: the non-crop vegetation at the tree strip.

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Factsheet

Agroforestry with willow used as medicinal fodder

Whitehall Farm, Cambs, UK, apples and arable

Sheep in Apple Orchards Loughgall

2nd EURAF Conference, 4-6 June 2014, Cottbus, Germany

3rd EURAF conference, Montpellier, France, May 2016

Grape harvesting in between Sorbus domestica

Montado near Montemor-o-Novo

Strip-like willow plantations offer a variety of retreats for birds and game

Authochtonous goat breed (Serpentina) grazing under Holm oak (Quercus rotundifolia)

Alley-cropping at Vattholma, Sweden

Understory management in alley cropping systems in France