alley crop

English

Etymology

From the use of the "alleys" between rows of trees.

Verb

alley crop (third-person singular simple present alley crops, present participle alley cropping, simple past and past participle alley cropped)

1. To plant non-woody crops between rows of nut, fruit, timber, or fodder trees.
   • 1990, Thomas A. Bass, Camping with the Prince and Other Tales of Science in Africa, page 136:

     First stop for our entourage of two buses and three cars is a technical school where the headmaster has directed his students to alley crop a small field of Leucaena and cowpeas.

   • 1995, The New Farm - Volume 17, Issues 1-4, page 28:

     You can alley crop with brambles, blueberries, fruit or nuts.

   • 1996, Inside Agroforestry, page 4:

     Shepherd will continue to alley crop corn and hay in between the tree rows until the trees become too large and shade out the crops.

Noun

alley crop (plural alley crops)

1. A crop that is cultivated in this manner.
   • 1998, Amelie Berger, Twice Humanity:

     Through the improved management of alley crops and fallow, it should be possible to increase crop yields in ShC systems and at the same time decrease the adverse environmental impacts of these systems.

   • 1999, B. T. Kang, A. N. Atta-krah, L. Reynolds, Alley Farming, page 60:

     On these nutrient-poor and acid soils, root competition for nutrients between crops and trees can be very intense, resulting in poor growth of the alley crops, especially of plants growing near the hedgerows.

   • 2017, N.R. Das, Practical Manual on Basic Agronomy:

     Alley crops are generally the 'hedge crop' or creeper which is clipped after some days, or some flower plants.