Abstract: In order to efficiently apply alfalfa in the cultivation of Populus tomentosa pulpwood plantations under the wide-and-narrow planting pattern, a field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of pattern M1, M2 and M3 on growth and soil productivity of P. tomentosa pulpwood plantations for 4 years. M1 represented the pattern of intercropping alfalfa, M2 represented the pattern of intercropping cotton and wheat, M3 represented the traditional pattern of pulpwood plantation. Results showed that M1, on average, increased the total increment of DBH, height, individual volume and stand volume by 6.04%, 2.53%, 13.33% and 12.07% respectively over M2, while that of M1 was 28.18%, 26.47%, 70.00% and 10.27% higher than M3. The contents of soil organic, total N and available N of M1, M2 and M3 were increased to some extent in the 0-60 cm soil layer. For understanding the difference of soil fertility among M1, M2 and M3, we analyzed the contents of soil organic, total N, available N and available K, and found that M3 was the least than M1 and M2 in above nutrient. Considering the economic benefit of M1, M2 and M3, we found that the total net income of M1 was the highest, which reached 78 043.56 yuan/hm² and was 3.97% and 38.73% higher than M2 and M3 respectively. In conclusion, our findings suggested that M1 should be vigorously promoted in regions similar to our experimental plantation.