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Benefits and costs of intercropping reforestation in the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica.

New Forests volume 25, pages 41–48 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Agroforestry options as a means of promoting reforestation were testedby establishing with 10 farmers simple comparisons between pure plantations andtimber trees with annual or perennial intercrops. Two year-old intercroppedtrees on-farm had 22–48% greater height and 24–38% greater diameterthan trees in pure plantations. The exception was Cordiaalliodora that did not respond significantly to intercropping withcassava (Manihot esculenta). Only intercrops with the mostvaluable crops on agricultural soils produced a return to labour above thedailywage rate. On non-agricultural soils, farmers only intercrop a small area oftheir plantations with subsistence crops to meet home consumption needs. In thecontext of Costa Rica intercropping appeared to have a limited potential tofinance the reforestation costs of farmers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Organization for Tropical Studies, Apdo, San Pedro, Costa Rica

    Jeremy Haggar & Pablo Arroyo

  2. School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, Connecticut, USA

    Richard Rheingans

  3. Centro Agrícola de Sarapiquí, Puerto Viejo, Sarapiquí, Costa Rica

    Bolivar Alvarado

Authors
  1. Jeremy Haggar
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  2. Richard Rheingans
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  3. Pablo Arroyo
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  4. Bolivar Alvarado
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Haggar, J., Rheingans, R., Arroyo, P. et al. Benefits and costs of intercropping reforestation in the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica.. New Forests 25, 41–48 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022341222592

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022341222592

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