In the field at the 5th agroforestry practice round table

It’s a Friday afternoon in February in Kleve – the bright sun is misleading, the wind is whistling through the Kleve lowlands. Thickly clad and with wellies on their feet, 20 people gather at the field entrance to the newly planted Alleen 3 agroforestry system. The Agroforst-Praxisstammtisch Niederrhein (Lower Rhine agroforestry practice group), which was set up by our Agroforst Reallabor last year, meets for a field tour.

Agroforestry practitioners are getting down to the nitty-gritty

Jannis Menne and Samuel Lemmen, research associates in our Agroforestry Living Laboratory, together with Anna-Lea Ortmann, PhD student in the Agroforestry Living Laboratory, presented the Alleen 3 cooperation project between the city of Kleve, the Haus Riswick agricultural research centre and our TransRegINT project. The introductory talk centred on the seven rows of agroforestry trees, which were planted as examples with different types of use. The practical discussion then began – for example, why which planting distances were chosen for which woods.

The fifth agroforestry round table brought together a wealth of expertise: Whether irrigation concepts, browsing and sweep protection or wood maintenance – interesting discussions developed on the various topics. The pros and cons were substantiated with plenty of individual experiences and thus discussed in depth. The effort and costs of agroforestry systems were also openly addressed, from planting and maintenance to harvesting. 349 trees, as in the case of Alleen 3, cannot be planted ‘just like that’. Without the carefully developed planting plan and the many helping hands, the planting in January, for example, would not have been possible.

After the field tour, the participants enjoyed warm drinks in the tropical greenhouse with study and showpiece gardens at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, where they deepened their thoughts and networked with each other. Anna-Lea Ortmann, who is responsible for organising the agroforestry practice roundtables, was particularly pleased that a new mixed group had come together again. ‘It’s great to see how regularly some of the participants attend the agroforestry round table, and how we are always joined by new interested parties and the network expands. Different perspectives, experiences and ideas are shared each time.’