Determinants of the economic viability of mallee eucalypts as a short rotation coppice crop integrated into farming systems of Western Australia

Abstract

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Redesign of dryland apple orchards by intercropping the bioenergy crop canola (Brassica napus L.): Achieving sustainable intensification

“…It has been increasingly recognized as a promising intensification pathway to sustainable agriculture (Kuyah et al, 2019;Pretty, 2018). For dryland orchards, establishment of agroforestry through intercropping has been suggested as a way of realizing sustainable intensification (Gao et al, 2021), based on the benefits of agroforestry for multiple ecosystem services in terms of yield and soil fertility improvement (Gao, Liu, et al, 2018), microclimate enhancement (Blaser et al, 2018;Lin, 2007), water regulation (Harper et al, 2014;Ling et al, 2017;Wu et al, 2016), C sequestration (Cardinael et al, 2017;Shi et al, 2018), erosion control (Kinama et al, 2007;Spencer et al, 2020), and increased income for smallholder farmers (Akinnifesi et al, 2010). Although meta-analysis studies generally show that agroforestry gives improved infiltration and soil water availability when compared to monocultures (Kuyah et al, 2019), tree crop water competition remains a major concern when establishing agroforestry systems in drylands because unsuitable combinations of trees and crops can suffer significant ecosystem service tradeoffs (Muthuri et al, 2005;Ndoli et al, 2017;Rao et al, 1997;Sudmeyer & Hall, 2015).…”