Agro caatinga: Agroforestry System -SAF-
Solution type: Soil and forest conservation and management
- Objectives: Increase soil fertility capacity and improve resilience of food production.
- Description: SAF allows the consolidation of a sustainable and biodiverse agriculture oriented towards the production of vegetables, fruit, timber and animal husbandry. In environmental terms, it contributes to increasing soil fertility, reduces pressure to expand water catchment and storage systems for productive purposes and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by fixing carbon in the plants that make up the SAF.
At the level of production practices, the SAF allows small farmers to adopt and improve the use and management of natural resources. By using perennial species and/or new species in association with different agricultural crops, it allows for the expansion of animal husbandry in the same space, consolidating production.
Economic Sustainability
the adoption of SAF practices, techniques and technologies adapted by small producers is contributing to labour savings, the development of new knowledge and innovations with the incorporation of crops adapted to the territory, and the consolidation and diversification of production, which is growing due to the demand for agro-ecological products.
The semi-arid region
Known as Agrocaatinga, is a strategy of coexistence as the Caatinga Biome, and a form of agricultural production, where plants from the native forest of the Caatinga are interspersed with plants of interest to the family, creating new possibilities of food production for human and animal consumption. This practice allows changing the reality of consumption, expanding the conditions for the family to guarantee food within the family unit itself, making the activity more resilient with the introduction and maintenance of strategic plants that contribute to soil efficiency and require less water, maintaining soil fertility and the necessary conditions to mitigate environmental risk factors.
Selection of planting areas and crops
To implement a SAF in the semi-arid region, the selection of planting areas should prioritise flat or gently sloping plots. Adopt conservation practices, such as contour planting. The forest inventory gives preference to Caatinga and fast-growing adapted species. The choice of agricultural crops is guided by technical and economic criteria, taking into account the agricultural tradition of the family nucleus, the relative value of the products, the food and nutritional demand and the land use capacity.
Caatinga shrubs, adapted or even exotic, are arranged in double or single rows of at least 3.0 m x 2.5 m, spaced between 12 and 17 m, with a density of up to 800 plants/hectare. Intercropping is installed with irrigation systems, providing a better use of the area and natural resources.
The double rows are established with orientation to a shade suitable for the crops interspersed between the rows, coinciding with the direction of the dominant and constant winds, favouring the movement of air masses in the different strata of vegetation, reducing phytosanitary problems. The Caatinga has natural renewal mechanisms, with constant entries and exits of plants in the systems and, to maintain this same dynamic, pruning and thinning of the Caatinga, introduction of native and exotic species in the clearings, and different practices such as beekeeping, production of fodder palm, cassava and other crops are used.
Organic inputs
The SAF foresees the use of minimal external inputs, with a preference for products of organic origin, discarding external chemical inputs (synthetic), which seek to imitate as closely as possible the functioning of the natural dynamics of the Caatinga that occurs through the succession of species. This means understanding that plants live integrated in nature and each one has its place, space and duration.
Organic matter during the whole production process is generated by the constant fall of leaves and branches of the plants (especially in the dry season). In SAF this occurs in two ways:
- With the displacement of mulch from fields and other areas.
- With the planting of pruning species to perform this function within the system itself.
This component is responsible for several benefits such as preventing erosion, maintaining soil moisture, favouring beneficial micro-organisms and providing more nutrients to plants, acting on their growth and biomass productivity. Some of these plants reproduced by seeds, aerial parts and even roots.
Cost and resources
- Costs will depend on local conditions and the species to be used.
Advantages
- Allowing an adequate use of the soil, higher production per unit area, increased income, reduced risk of pests and diseases, and a better use of natural resources.
- It is an effective tool in the use and management of natural resources, conserving water and improving soil quality, which is essential to avoid land degradation and loss of agricultural production capacity.
- The SAF contributes to the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, soil conservation techniques and new ways of using natural resources more efficiently to increase production, agricultural productivity and household income generation.
- It is an effective carbon capture mechanism, which contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, promotes the conservation of biodiversity in local ecosystems and increases the resilience of production systems to the adverse effects of climate change.
Complexity
The adoption of SAF is considered relatively accessible, due to its simplicity and environmental benefits. However, it requires special care in the choice of species varieties to be implemented, as well as in the definition of the management used in the formation and management of the crops, to ensure their sustainability.
Sources:
- SEMIARIDO VIVO. Sistema Agroflorestal – SAF Da Fazenda Xique Xique. Caderno de Casos Semiárido Brasileiro. Coleção de Experiências Daki – Semiárido Vivo..