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The Center for Subtropical Agroforestry •
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The
Center for Subtropical Agroforestry
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Auburn University and UF Department Conduct CSTAF Research
CSTAF has entered into research contracts with Auburn University and with UF/IFAS Soil and Water Science Department to study the environmental benefits of agroforestry systems. Dennis Shannon, a CSTAF collaborator, will lead the research efforts at Auburn University. Shannon and other researchers will study agroforestry combinations of mimosa hedgerows to measure their ability to reduce soil erosion. Experience with vegetative barriers in the tropics has shown that tree or grass conservation barriers on slopes trap soil displaced by tillage and water erosion, resulting in terrace formation without the use of heavy equipment. If the need for bulldozers to shape terraces can be eliminated by planting rows of trees, shrubs or grass, it will be possible to greatly reduce the cost of soil conservation on sloping land. If farmers use hedgerows consisting of trees or shrubs that produce animal forage, green manure, or a marketable product, it will be possible to recover some of the costs of soil conservation. Auburn will perform the research under a three-year contract with the University of Florida that ends July 2004. Vimala Nair of UF's Soil and Water Science Department in collaboration with Don Graetz and post-doctoral researcher Hector Adegbidi will assess the impacts of agroforestry systems on nutrient leaching. Certain agroforestry practices, such as alley cropping, riparian buffers and silvopastures, promise to reduce runoff of chemicals from farmland, thereby improving environmental quality. This research will be conducted at various sites from south Florida to the Panhandle and will complement the research at Auburn University. |
