Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable Agriculture Alley Croping (Tanaman Lorong)

         Some research indicates that this system is very effective in controlling erosion. In the Philippines, Alley cropping can reduce erosion by 69%, which made up 48% due to the effect of the closure of the soil by mulching, 8% are caused by changes in soil profiles and 4% by planting contour (Brata, 1995). In Indonesia, the system is believed to be effective in controlling erosion, can increase the productivity of the soil and plants, and can be adopted by farmers in dry land on the cultivation of maize. (Sukmana and Suwardjo, 1991)

          Cultivation hall (alley cropping) is one of the soil and water conservation techniques that have long been introduced for the development of sustainable agricultural systems on dry land or slope, but has not been applied widely by farmers. Dry land or sloping land is a natural resource that has a great chance to be utilized optimally. Alley cropping is one of agroforestry systems to plant seasonal crops or food crops between alleys formed by hedgerows of trees or shrubs. Hedgerows trimmed periodically during planting to avoid nutrient shade and reduce competition with food crops / seasonal. Lorong planting (alley cropping) is done with the short-lived crops, such as corn among the array of plants that can grow tall and aged yearly, for example sengon. Trimmings from the hedgerows (sengon) can be used as mulch that is expected to contribute to the plant nutrients, especially nitrogen hallway.

Planting System advantages (Alley Cropping)

           Dry land conservation is important to do because the land is quite extensive and can not be used optimally in order to improve the welfare of society. To get optimal results need to be a combination of other techniques, mainly to store water to meet the water needs of seasonal crops during a severe drought such as creating ponds, and rorak. Corn water needs did reltif little but if the drought lasts longer then the growth is less than optimal. Water results of shelter during the rainy season can be used for watering plants above if necessary. Alley cropping is a combination of annual crops (fencing) and seasonal crops are done in a way that can benefit the ecological, economic, and social. Alley cropping system advantages:

a. Ecology

Can contribute organic matter and nutrients, especially nitrogen to plants hallway, reduce weeds, increase the absorption of ground water and increase soil moisture, reducing the rate of runoff and erosion when hedgerows were planted in the meeting according to the contour lines, the wind can be minimized so that the crops remain in the condition good, and improve biological diversity and agro-ecosystem balance.

b. Economics

Saving the cost of land preparation because it is not necessary to piracy for loosening the soil, reducing fertilizer costs by using hedge plant leaves to be used as compost or mulch, and annual tree branches can be used as firewood.

c. Social

Can improve food security for a growing number of production resulting from this alley cropping system. Besides unemployment can be reduced because the alley cropping system requires a lot of labor in planting and maintenance.

Alley cropping system weaknesses (Alley Cropping)

          Weaknesses that lead to technical difficulties in the implementation and maintenance constraints for sustainability and dissemination of technology adoption by farmers cultivating hallway. Often the development activities in the application of soil and water conservation technologies require expensive beyond the financial capacity of farmers to help finance issued upon application of such technologies would be useless because it is not followed by ongoing maintenance effort. Although the application of cultivation techniques aisle have been reported to reduce the level of damage to agricultural land by erosion, scientists ethics can motivate berfalsafah menalarnya ability to think about the development of science for the improvement of technologies that can facilitate technology users get maximum benefit as a result of adopting these technologies.

Some obstacles implementation of cultivation by farmers widely hall, among others:

a. Hedgerows take approximately 5-15% of the area that is normally used for food crops / main crop. To that end, efforts must be made so that hedges can provide immediate results. This can be done for example by using sengon as a hedge plant.

b. The slow growth of hedge rows (Hedgerows) on marginal land, leading to less effective hedge row function to inhibit runoff and erosion, the difficulty of maintenance and handling pruned hedges.

c. Often there is competition between the hedges with the main plant to obtain nutrients, water, and light. The fix is ​​to trim hedges regularly so that root growth is also limited.

d. Sometimes it happens influence of residues and the development of pests or plant diseases that can interfere with the fence food crops.

e. The manpower required for the establishment and maintenance of hedgerows is quite high.

f. Excess water when it rains which have not been infiltrated often still wasted through the left boundary line of beds and / or SPA on the patio or terrace gulud bench. Excess water if concentrated in a single stream, potentially erode the soil. To maximum water infiltration into the soil can be done by adding crop residues, litter, clipping a hedge into the terrace channel, rorak, or into holes of water infiltration. This technique is known as vertical mulching.