AGRISILVICULTURAL STUDIES-OPTIMUM SPECIES COMBINATION

SUMMARY Arable crops like fodder sorghum and CSH.l grain sorghum grown by farmers in conjunction with scattered trees of Acacia leucophloea and Azadirachta indica respectively recorded increased height and dry matter production under the tree canopy than in the open. Alley-cropping experiments conducted to delineate optimum species combinations with Casuarina equisetifolia, Leucaena leucocephala and Eucalyptus tereticornis showed BN.2 fodder grass to be highly compatible with Casuarina equisetifolia which in general, of the three species tested, had the least detrimental effects on the growth of the associate crop while Eucalyptus tereticornis had the most. Growth and yield of sorghum, maize and cowpea were depressed when alley cropped with all three tree species.