Classification of Agroforestry Based on Arrangement of Components
The arrangement of components gives first priority to the plants. Even in Agroforestry systems involving animals, their management according to a definite plan.
1) Spatial Arrangement:
Spatial arrangements of plants in an Agroforestry mixture may result in dense mixed stands ( as in home gardens) or in space mixed stands (as in most systems of trees in pastures). The species (or species mixtures) may be laid out in zones or strips of varying widths. A common example of the zonal pattern is hedgerow intercropping (alley cropping).
2) Temporal Arrangement:
Temporal arrangements of plants in Agroforestry may also take various forms. An extreme example is the conventional shifting cultivation cycles involving 2-4 years of cropping and more than 15 years of fallow cycle, when a selected woody species or mixtures of species may be planted. Similarly, some silvopastoral systems may involve grass leys in rotation, with some species of grass remaining on the land for several years. These temporal arrangements of components in Agroforestry are termed coincident, concomitant, overlapping (relay cropping), separate and interpolated.