Kahigwa Tibasiima, ThaddeoEkyaligonza, Deous MaryKanahe Kagorora, John PatrickFriedel, Jürgen KurtMelcher, AndreasBwambale, BoscoAkugizibwe, EdwinFreyer, Bernhard2024-04-032024-04-032023-01-30https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032453http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12280/3098Above-ground biomass cover under Coffea arabica on sloping land is beneficial but difficult to sustain. Interplanting annual and perennial legumes can sustain the above-ground biomass cover, and improve soil fertility, yield, and profitability. This was tested on 26 sloping farms in a four-growing season experiment on undersowing C. arabica with new crop combinations: Mucuna pruriens var. utilis (T1); Millettia dura Dunn (T2); a combination of M. pruriens and M. dura (T3); and the control with a no-cover legume (T4). On each farm, all treatments followed a randomized single-block design. T3 produced 8.7 mt/ha/yr above-ground biomass that was significantly (p < 0.01) higher than other treatments and was increasing with the seasons. Under T3, plant-available nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) increased more than in other treatments. During the fourth season, coffee yield in T3 was 54%, 22%, and 11% higher than in T4, T2, and T1, respectively. The gross profit under T3 was 86% higher than in T4 in the fourth season. This indicates that interplanting a combination of M. pruriens and M. dura under C. arabica on sloping land can sustainably increase above-ground biomass cover, soil’s plant-available N and K, coffee yield, and profitability. Based on the results, the combination of M. pruriens and M. dura is recommended to optimize coffee production under the described conditions.enAgroforestryCover cropsInterplantingMillettia duraMucuna pruriensProfitabilityRwenzori MountainsSloping landUndersownArticle