Agroforestry developments and potential in the Brazilian Amazon

Smith, Nigel; Fik, Timothy J.; Alvim, P. de T.; Falesi, I. C.; Serrão, E. A. S.

doi:10.1002/ldr.3400060406

Cited by 17 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Forms of land-use employing agroforestry practices could provide an alternative scenario and help to optimize land use (Smith et al 1995;Schroth et al 2004), and agroforestry as a sustainable form of land use is attracting increasing attention on all levels, from the small farm to the federal government. However, besides policies to ensure that agroforestry extension, investment capital, and planting material are available to settlers when they make land-use decisions, efforts to increase the adoption of perennials on Amazonian farms must first be concerned with the identification of economically and ecologically viable species that can be combined into production systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indigenous Agroforestry Systems in Amazonia: From Prehistory to Today

Miller¹,

Nair

2006

Agroforest Syst

136

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Understanding the historical development of indigenous systems will provide valuable information for the design of ecologically desirable agroforestry production systems. Such studies have been relatively few, especially in Amazonia. The agroforestry systems in Amazonia follow a trail that begins with the arrival of the first hunter-gatherers in prehistoric times, followed by the domestication of plants for agriculture, the development of complex societies rich in material culture, the decimation of these societies by European diseases, warfare, and slavery, the introduction of exotic species, and finally, the present-day scenario of widespread deforestation, in which agroforestry is ascribed a potential role as an alternative land use. Despite the upheavals which occurred in colonial times, greatly reducing the population of native tribes, a review of anthropological and ethnobiological literature from recent decades indicates that a great variety of indigenous agroforestry practices still exist, ranging from deliberate planting of trees in homegardens and fields to the management of volunteer seedlings of both cultivated and wild species. These practices result in various configurations of agroforestry systems, such as homegardens, tree/crop combinations in fields, orchards of mixed fruit trees, and enriched fallows. Together they constitute a stock of knowledge developed over millenia, and represent technologies that evolved along with the domestication of native forest species and their incorporation into food production systems. This knowledge is the basis for the principal agroforestry practice employed by farmers in Amazonia today, the homegarden, and has potential to contribute to the development of other agroforestry systems.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indigenous Agroforestry Systems in Amazonia: From Prehistory to Today

Miller¹,

Nair

2006

Agroforest Syst

136

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“…Large-scale commercial tree and perennial crop plantations, e.g., fruit trees and oil palms, often owe their establishment in the Brazilian Amazon to incentives through subsidized credit programs [66]. In the long term, their economic viability as well as their potential to become major deforestation drivers will, among others, depend on further agro-industry development and the removal of land tenure insecurities in the region [67].…”

Section: Other Adoption Obstaclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Scope for Reducing Emissions from Forestry and Agriculture in the Brazilian Amazon

Börner¹,

Wunder²

2012

Forests

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Reducing emissions from agriculture, forestry, and other land uses is considered an essential ingredient of an effective strategy to mitigate global warming. Required changes in land use and forestry, however, often imply foregoing returns from locally more attractive resource use strategies. We assess and compare the prospects of mitigating climate change through emission reductions from forestry and agriculture in the Brazilian Amazon. We use official statistics, literature, and case study material from both old and new colonization frontiers to identify the scope for emission reductions, in terms of potential additionality, opportunity costs, technological complexity, transaction costs, and risks of economic and environmental spillover effects. Our findings point to a comparative advantage in the Brazilian Amazon of forest conservation-based over land-use modifying mitigation options, especially in terms of higher potential additionality in emission reductions. Low-cost mitigation options do exist also in use-modifying agriculture and forestry, but tend to be technologically complex thus requiring more costly intervention schemes. Our review points to a series of regional development deficits that may come to hamper attempts to tap into the large-scale climate change mitigation potential often associated with the Amazon. Low-hanging fruits for mitigation do exist, but must be carefully identified based on the performance indicators we discuss

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“…and ecological functions of agroforestry systems (Smith et al, 1995;Dubais et al, 1996), among which soil conservation is often most important, maintenance of soil fertility requires preservation of its organic matter, physical properties and nutrient levels. Several studies showed the usefulness of tree plantations in the restoration of soil attributes and biological attributes and biological diversity on degraded land (Fisher, 1995;Lugo, 1997) trees that influence soil chemical and physical properties has been used in agricultural applications through agroforestry and forest fallow for some time (Nair, 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%