The publication of this Handbook was supported by the Russian Federation

Zelyonye zonty’ (literally, ‘green umbrellas’) is the Russian term for an agroforestry practice 
that involves planting clusters of  trees within pastures, near waterholes, cattle and sheep sheds 
and other places where farm animals can rest and shelter from the sun during the hottest part 
of  summer days. This type of  agroforestry is practiced in dry steppe, semidesert and desert 
regions. The tree clusters can include from 8 to 40 groups of  9 to 25 trees. Tree spacings are 3-6 
m between trees within a group and 6-20 m between groups of  trees (so- called wind corridors). 
Each group of  trees can cover an area of  100-900 m2 and an entire cluster of  tree groups can 
cover a total area of  0.3-1.2 ha. The planting design of  tree clusters varies depending on the 
type of  farm animal. For cattle and sheep, closed-canopy/open floored clusters are planted, 
consisting of  robust tree species of  arid zones that can produce phytoncides. Typically used 
species include fruit trees such as Armenian plum (Prunus armeniaca), cherry plum (Prunus 
cerasifera), pear tree (Pyrus sp.), apple tree (Malus sp.) and mulberry tree (Morus sp.) and also 
leaf-fodder plants such as Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) and 
honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.). On poultry farms, shrubs that produce berries, e.g., currants (Ribes 
sp.), shadbush (Amelanchier sp.) and cherry (Cerasus sp.) are planted to form a dense ground tier 
and an open canopy. Tree saplings 3-5 years old and at least 3 m tall are planted on relatively 
fertile and moist soils in spring or autumn after deep ploughing. The use of  tree clusters 
begins two years after planting. The estimated canopy areas (m2) required to shelter one 
animal are as follows: 2.5-3 per sheep, 1.5-2 per lamb, 10-12 per cow, 4-6 per veal and 0.2-0.3 
per chicken. This agroforestry practice was first developed in the Astrakhan Region of  the 
former USSR in 1958 [
1].
In the northern part of  the Caspian Lowland, loamy deposits are dominated by Solonetz complexes 
that include soils with different properties: Solonetz with saline surface horizons and low fertility, 
Light Chestnut soils with various degrees of  alkalinity and salinity and moderate fertility and 
Meadow Chestnut soils with no salinity or alkalinity, but high fertility (Fig. E.1). Transitions from 
one soil type to another usually occur every 2 to 20-30 m, i.e., within very short distances.

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Annex Е.Innovative methods and technologies of agroforestry on saline and alkaline soils (by the example of the Caspian Lowland, Russia) 
A
B
C