Four land use options—annual cropping, agroforestry, agrihorticulture, and agrosilviculture—were tried on a Land Capability Class IVs Alfisol under rainfed conditions to find a farming system that would be profitable and sustainable. The agrihorticultural system required more cash input but gave a value/cost ratio of 2.16 compared with 1.95 with annual cropping, 1.69 with agroforestry and 1.52 with agrosilviculture. Runoff was 4.9% in the agrihorticultural system, and 10.6% with agroforesty. Economic and soil health considerations led to the conclusion that the agrihorticultural system would be a sustainable land use option for the semi-arid Alfisol However, other options also are profitable, with value/cost ratios of more than 1.50. Therefore, land users can choose among several systems, depending on their desired production level and their investment capacity.
