Actually, that situation sounds a whole lot like the ones that Masanabu Fukuoka addresses in his Natural Farming [as opposed to Scientific Farming} method:
Greek Project
http://www.ideassonline.org/pu...
The Natural Way of Farming pdf
http://www.rivendellvillage.or...
One Straw Revolution
ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/...
Note: The One Straw Revolution actually begins on p. 43 of this pdf. There is a long introduction on the use of the method in India.
p. 37 " . . . take a barren mountain with poor, red clay soil, and plant
pine or cedar with a ground cover of clover and alfalfa. As the green
manure [Ground cover crops such as clover, vetch, and alfalfa which
condition and nourish the soil.] enriches and softens the soil, weeds and
bushes grow up below the trees, and a rich cycle of regeneration is
begun. There are instances in which the top four inches of soil have
become enriched in less than ten years. "
