For nutrient management, the advantages of alley cropping are protection against nutrient leaching, soil erosion, nutrient mobilization and transfer from trees to annual crops and pumping nutrients from deeper soil layers. The advantage of alleys of shrubs or trees for erosion control is obvious but obtained at the price of slightly lower yields from the annual crops. The tree cuttings as organic nutrient source are less effective than mineral N, Nutrients from deeper layers are only transferred to the surface soil if there are substantial nutrient in the soil. Hedgerow intercropping or alley cropping improves soil fertility and crop yields. It controls soil erosion on sloping lands. It produces of fodder for livestock. In this paper various aspect of alley cropping under rainfed agroecosystem is reviewed.
