CSTAF’s P.K. Nair and Mike Bannister visited the research sites in September to observe the research progress.

CSTAF collaborator Carl Jordan, a researcher at the University of Georgia, is conducting the research with three graduate students. The team is evaluating methods of alley cropping to determine whether this technique can reduce the cost of inputs in organic farming operations. The research compares crop yields and costs in alley plots treated with manure, wood chips, and green manure with cover crops. Hedgerows are part of the system.

One component of the research compares the use of an alternative to Albizia julibrissin, or mimosa, a common tree in the Southeast. An alternative, Amorpha fruticosa, or false indigo, is native to the United States but is not used for hedgerows. In China, false indigo is cultivated and successfully used as a hedgerow although it is not native to the country. False indigo may have advantages in hedgerow use because it remains a shrub when it matures.