At the end of last year, the science and technology news and analyses portal www.scidev.net released its list of "The most read stories in 2012."

Topping the charts in the 'agriculture and environment' category was a story based on the results of a long-term agroforestry study in southern Africa, which showed that maize fields intercropped with a leguminous trees species (Gliricidia sepium) yielded, on average, 50% higher than maize monocrops grown with or without fertiliser. What's more, the yields in the agroforestry systems were more stable over a long time.

The research was carried out over 12 years by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and partner researchers, and published in Agronomy Journal. 

Maize is the leading staple food across large expanses of the continent, and these results on agroforestry's impact on the crop's yields have far-reaching relevance.

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Article on SciDevNet: Intercropping 'boosts maize yields by 50 per cent'

See SciDevNet's Most Read stories of 2012

Link to Agronomy Journal abstract

Related article:

Long-term study shows increased maize yields using fertilizer trees