This document discusses alley cropping agroforestry systems that combine timber and energy wood production. It describes two options for producing biomass for energy in these systems: using short rotation coppice as an intercrop or using pollarded standard trees. Some initial results from Italy show poplar yields of 2-12 tons/ha in a short rotation coppice system with pears and sorbus as timber trees. Modeling indicates short rotation coppice-agroforestry may have intermediate land equivalent ratios, while pollarded tree systems could have very high land equivalent ratios above 2.0. Further research is still needed to fully evaluate the productivity and profitability of these innovative agroforestry configurations.
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