Arable land in the humid tropics is dominated by Ultisols. This arable land is characterized by acid soils with shallow crop root development, relatively coarse texture, low cation exchange capacities, low organic content, and having 2500 to 3000 mm of annual rainfall. Such conditions cause intensive leaching of soluble nutrients, especially NO3, below the crop root zone. Therefore, hedge inter cropping systems, with development of tree root systems under the main crop root zone, can hypothetically intercept the nutrients lost and recycle them by acting as a "safety net". To provide a better understanding of the effectiveness of hedgerow cropping in reducing mineral N leaching, we studied two contrasting tree species.
Publication year
1999
Authors
Suprayogo D; Hairiah, D.K.; Giller, K.E.; Cadisch G; van Noordwijk, M.
Language
English
Keywords
alley cropping, leaching, nitrogen, roots, ultisols
Geographic
Indonesia
