Alley cropping very well be applied on dry land. Type of legume plants commonly used are Flemingia congesta, Glericidea sepium, Teprosia candida, and Caliandra. Alley cropping (alley croping) is a system in which crops are planted in the hallway (alley) between rows of hedges.
Clipping of hedgerows used as mulch that is expected to contribute to the plant nutrients, especially nitrogen hallway. Plants used for hedges include Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala), Gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium), kaliandra (Caliandra calothyrsus) or Flemingia (Flemingia congesta).
Figure 11. Plant hallway Caliandra calothyrsus
Lamtoro more appropriate on land that is not acidic (pH 5.5-7.5) and unfavorable growth if acid soil (pH 4 to 5.5). Gliricidia has a higher tolerance to soil acidity, resistant crop and quickly re-sprout after pruning. Kaliandra adaptability has quite extensive but less popular than the Gliricidia.
Terms of hedge:
- Hold trimming and can sprout again quickly after pruning.
- Generate a lot of forage.
- Especially those who can tie up nitrogen (N2) from the air.
- Level of competition with plants hallway is not so high.
- Not to be alelopati (removing toxic substances) on the main crops.
- Should have a double benefit as for fodder, firewood and fruit producing so easily adopted by farmers.
Planting techniques and maintenance of hedgerows:
- Leuceana and Flemingia usually planted from seed while using Gliricidia cuttings.
- For cuttings material, choose a branch that has a whitish (no longer green) 2-4 cm in diameter. Long cuttings of about 30 cm.
- Cuttings are planted according to the contour parallel lines with a spacing of 20-30 cm in a row. For planting the seeds (lamtoro or Flemingia), the distance between seeds about 5-10 cm.
Figure 12. The relationship between the angle α dlm (degrees), the vertical distance / interval (a) and the lateral distance between hedgerows
The distance between rows of hedge is determined by the slope (angle α) and the vertical distance (IV) hedges (Table 9.1 and Figure 3). or instance, to land slope of 15%, we want the vertical distance of 75 cm (0.75 m), then the distance between the rows of hedge (c) is rounded to 5.1 m or 5 m. For land that slopes 30% and the distance interval between hedgerows desired 1 m, the distance between rows is 3.5 m.