PROFITABILITY OF ALLEY FARMING WITH AND WITHOUT FALLOW IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

The profitabilities of three land use systems in the humid zone of sou thwest Nigeria are compared using a capital budgeting procedure combin ing on-station and on-farm experimental data. The systems are: non-all ey farming with fallow; alley farming with fallow; and continuous alle y farming. The results indicate that: continuous alley cropping is mor e profitable than non-alley or alley cropping with fallow; short fallo wing in alley cropping reduces the rate of mining soil fertility and t hus helps preserve future productivity; alley farming with small rumin ants enhances the profitability of alley systems and increases their a dvantage over the non-alley system; and alley systems remain profitabl e even when terminal clearing costs are internalized in the current pr oject cycle.