Alley-cropping: coming soon to a forest near you?

A documentary film about agroforestry as a replacement to unsustainable slash-and-burn agriculture had its premiere in London last week, reports Reuters’ AlertNet.

The film, Up in Smoke, focuses on alley cropping with fertilizer trees – Inga trees from the Amazon Basin – as a sustainable alternative to slash-and-burn farming. Changing patterns of slash and burn have made the practice damaging to the environment. The alley cropping system with Inga trees reinvigorates nutrient-depleted soils, increases crop yields, prevents further land clearing and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

The World Agroforestry Centre’s Director General, Dennis Garrity, was interviewed for the article, commenting on the benefits of alley cropping.

Read the AlertNet article here.