Sunlight photons intercept a piece of ground at various wavelengths and from a variety of angles. A garden, field or farm can thus maximise the number of photons converted to photosynthesis, and therefore production, by ensuring that as many leaves as possible, at as many angles as possible, and as a varied as possible, are arranged over the area to intercept as much sunlight as possible.

Agroforestry is a land use system which uses woody perrenials (trees and shrubs) alongside ground cover plants, to maximise photosynthetic production from farmland. It is calculated that agroforestry can increase production from any given area by up to 40%. Thus a 20Ha agroforestry farm could produce as much as a 28Ha conventional farm.

Agroforestry(AF) is subdivided into:

-Sylvopasture- the integration of treees shrubs and pasture grazed by animals.

-Sylovoarable- the integration of trees and shrubs with arable crops