Sustainable Cacao Agroforestry System (SCAS) Viet Nam during final site clearance. Berms are Keyline oriented rows of accumulated Bambusa spp. roots from 70 metre belts
SCAS Viet Nam 6 months later after planting of 30 species of utile species and Theobroma cacao as the understorey plus access/catchment drain formation which fall from left to right @ 1:400 harvesting runoff (2.5m rainfall/year) to water storage dams). There are three blocks in this system of 400m length, 21 rows at 3m spacing. So about 6ha in this layout, though the site we have worked on is about 150ha, where a range of tropical timber and non-timber species have been established. Gravity-fed irrigation system is fed by rainwater catchment filled dams and then reticulated via a 100mm PVC main then 27mm LDPE on the rows (visible) with Netafim 2lph drippers. Rows are not on contour, rather use Keyline principles which allows equidistance between rows, harvesting of rainfall and then movement of runoff towards convex slopes (ridges)...this is simply not possible using contours as they are never parallel! On that basis as with a lot of things we are famously 'Off the Contour'!
The Cacao Map?
