Mixed Cropping for Boundary Plants

To ensure the maximum utilization of every inch of land, there is also a system of planting in the boundary areas of all schools, farms, orchards, homes, etc., as well as beside all roads.

For example, trees with spreading branches, like most fruit trees and even some timber trees, should be planted all around the perimeter of such places at fixed distances.

Palm trees, which grow straight up, should be planted in between the fruit trees, as they do not block the sun light from the fruit trees.

Between the fruit trees and the palm trees, filler plants should be planted. Examples of small filler plants are:

1. Edible anthurium, a root crop
2. Permanent cotton, a shrub
3. Arrowroot, a root crop.

If the soil is deep and good, plant anthurium.

If the soil is stony and poor, plant permanent cotton.

If the soil is of medium quality, then plant arrowroot.

In between all these, there is still space for associate plants to the filler plants.

With anthurium plant, Chinese mini-grape.

With permanent cotton plant, ghee kavla, a vegetable.

With arrowroot plant, wild mini bitter gourd.

The boundary wall should also be topped with wire to grow wire plants, in series, as in the lakeside plantations.

Where trees are planted around the boundary of agricultural land, care should be taken so that they do not shade the crops from the sun.

Some examples of boundary plants grown in Ánanda Nagar include:

• Red oak with a fill-gap of cotton (gách kápás)
• Night jasmine and Paraguay coconut with a fill-gap of large cardamon (baŕa eláchi).
• Silver oak with a fill-gap of cotton.
• Shiriish
• Green oak, cotton
• Bakphul (Sesbania grandiflora) and African oil palm
• Redwood
• shveta karabi
• nágdoná

Intermittently:

• red sandalwood (rakta chandan) with a fill-gap of Agave americana
• American ash with a fill-gap of Agave americana
• Kael pine with a fill gap of Agave americana.
• Arjuna.
• Sita asoke (Sarika indica) planted with intermittent sábu dáná
• Two mulberry plants with one oil palm in between, the oil palm should not be an African variety.
• African palm with a fill-gap of pineapple.
• Bedáná.
• Phalsa.
• Paraguay coconut.
• Indian rosewood with intermittent tál, alternating with Indian rosewood and Indian olive, and pineapple as a fill-gap. Occidental olive (jalpái, Olea europaea, L.) and chalpa, the fill-gap will be Agave americana. Green oak with a fill-gap of cotton. Sisoo (Dalbergia sisoo) and teak (segun), planted between banyan and night jasmine. Cloves and Indian cassia bark (tejpata) with scholar’s leaves between them. Red sandal and kababcini with sotti between. Japanese cherry tree. Kaiṋcan.

Sondal tree (Indian laburnum, Cassia fistula). Indian rosewood, pineapple, palmyra, pineapple, Indian rosewood etc. (I+P+Pa+P+I…) Himalayan devdaru, pineapple, date palm, pineapple, Himalayan devdaru, etc. Tál and Nimnapatra devdaru with a fill-gap of Chinese chaste tree. Nutmeg, tál kát́ál, kauphal, tál kát́ál, with a fill- gap of asparagus. Banyan alternately with palmyra, the gaps filled with asparagus and aloe. Indian rosewood, piyá shál (Pterocarpus marsupium), garjan (Dipterocarpus alatus), shishu (Dalbergia sisoo) and mangostein, with a fill-gap of date palm, asparagus and aloe. Sesame (til) and ginger (adarak) alternately on the boundary of late boro paddy.

Boundary plants for oil seeds include:

• night jasmine
• Paraguay coconut alternating, with baŕa ellachi as a fill-up plant.

There is no fixed rule for fill-up plants on boundaries in compounds.

Sisal makes a good boundary, roadside and riverside plant.

• It is the usual fill-gap on roadsides and many boundaries.
• It also helps to prevent erosion.