The Italian Demo Site 1 (IT1) under SCALARE project, led by the University of Messina, is located in Noto (Syracuse, Italy) at 19 m a.s.l. The site comprises a rainfed almond orchard (cv. Pizzuta d’Avola) managed under organic farming practices, with barley (Hordeum vulgare), burr medic (Medicago polymorpha), and their mixtures cultivated in the inter-row spaces. The climate is a semi-arid Mediterranean climate, and the farm soil is loam to silt-loam.
Sowing of herbaceous species (barley, burr medic, and their mixtures) was carried out on 11 December 2025. The experimental design is a randomized complete block with three replicates. Treatments include sole crops of herbaceous species and sole almond trees, as well as agroforestry systems combining almond trees with herbaceous crops. The primary objective is to produce hay from barley, burr medic, or their mixtures grown in the alleys between almond tree rows.
The almond trees are approximately 30-35 years old and managed under low-input conditions. Almond harvest is expected in early August. Herbaceous crops were sown during the dormancy phase of the almond trees and harvested at the beginning of almond fruit set, when barley was at boot stage and burr medic at flowering, on 14 April 2026.
Throughout the growing season, several parameters were monitored, including soil moisture, soil temperature, intercepted solar radiation, leaf chlorophyll content, and weed dynamics, both in the agroforestry and sole herbaceous species and sole almond trees. Preliminary results indicate that hay dry biomass is lower in agroforestry systems than in the corresponding sole herbaceous cropping systems. However, the land equivalent ratio (LER) consistently exceeds that of sole cropping, although the LER of the herbaceous component varies with distance from the tree row and spatial orientation (west vs. east), with average values of 1.43. The weed dry biomass was reduced by more than 50% in agroforestry as compared with almond sole trees.
The assessment of ecosystem services, including cultural, regulating, and supporting functions, is currently ongoing.
