Agro- forestry. Basically this is a strategy to integrate the forest back into farming. See Wakelyns research farm below surrounded by mono culture it is interesting to see how it contrasts with its neighbours. Some primary cropland is given over to trees which does reduce the yield to a certain extent. Even if the trees are aligned north south to minimize shading. Rows can be made a width that is suitable to the machines and harvest methods being used.
The difference between the two systems is striking The combined yield of the crops and trees is 1.4 times more than the monoculture and crucially in the agro-forestry system soil carbon is rising, where as in the other it is dropping and soils are much more prone to erosion. Interestingly also because of the increased diversity on the agro-forestry site disease spreads more slowly and is less of an overall threat.
