Associated crops.
WHH Tajikistan
Crop Association
Vegetables associated with fruit trees in pilot plot in Zindakon, Ayni district, Tajikistan
WHH Tajikistan
Accociated vegetables and fodder crops in a resilient orchard of a project beneficiary
WHH Tajikistan
Vegetables or fodder crops can be planted between rows of fruit trees facilitating income from the orchard from the very beginning when fruit trees have not yet entered production. Associating fruit trees with vegetables or fodder crops is especially important in Tajikistan as farmer families have only little irrigated land and thus have to use it intensively. Vegetables can be used for subsistence or sold at market, whilst fodder crops as alfalfa and sainfoin can be planted for producing hay. Other advantages of cultivating fodder plants are that these create habitats and feed pollinators and beneficial insects. Most of the species flower after fruit trees have already blossomed, thereby extending the fodder supply for pollinators and improving conditions for beekeeping. Moreover, fodder plants protect the soil from erosion.
The project trains farmers within the farmers' field schools on orchard management, including correct tree formation for leaving enough space for associated cultures. Fruit trees should be formed with longitudinal crowns, consisting of stem prolongation and two skeleton branches aligned along the row of trees, which allows for the cultivation of vegetable and fodder plants in between.
Although associating vegetables or fodder crops between the rows within orchards is not new for most of the farmers, the technique can only be implemented successfully depending on several factors, including composition and design of the orchard, such as distances between the trees and the rows, correct pruning of trees, selection of species for associated crops and availability of irrigation water and infrastructure. Commonly, fruit trees are cultivated too dense which reduces fruit production per tree and makes the plantation for associated crops impossible due to the lack of sunlight reaching through the branches. If advanced irrigation systems are available, it has to be considered that trees preferably should be watered by drip irrigation and fodder plants by sprinkler irrigation which requires installing two different systems.