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Sustainable increases in food production in semi-arid regions require efficient use of land and water resources. Agroforestry is the practice of combining tree and crop cultivation on a land parcel and may increase both land productivity and water use efficiency. We conducted two years of field experiments in the semi-arid Khorchin region in Liaoning, China, to determine to which extent land and water use efficiencies were affected by mixing apricot (Prunus armeniaca) trees with annual crops: peanut (Arachis hypogaea), millet (Pennisetum italica) or sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas). Apricot yields were not significantly affected in the agroforestry, compared to the sole stand, but yields of the annual crops were lower when grown under trees than as sole crops, with relative crop yields of 0.46 for millet and 0.35 for both peanut and sweet potato in the agroforestry. Crop rows near tree rows had lower yields than crop …