Edaphoclimatic Zoning: Methodology and Application to Apple Cultivation in a Brazilian Watershed

Abstract

The planning of land use and occupation is essential when it comes to seeking the best results in view of socioeconomic and environmental sustainability. In this context, Geographic Information Systems are tools that allow, through mapping, to identify physical and climatic characteristics aiming at the best result for a particular crop, which characterizes the edaphoclimatic zoning. This article aimed to elaborate and apply a methodology to create an edaphoclimatic zoning, focused on apple cultivation, having as study unit, the hydrographic basin of the Socorro River, located in countryside of the municipality of Vacaria, Brazil. Water demand and winter rest were considered as climatic parameters and pedology, areas of permanent preservation, and land use slope as physical parameters, obtaining a map with the representation of suitable and restricted areas. The results showed about 80% of the hydrographic basin corresponding to areas suitable for apple cultivation. The proposed methodology can be applied to other regions and other crops, thus supporting decision-making regarding land use and occupation, sensitivities and potenciality.

Recovery of the Tambobamba Watershed after Environmental Zoning and Monitoring Using Vegetation Indices

“…Research has suggested different types of environmental zoning [5,12,15,16,24,27]. Designing EZ must be done according to the economic, social, environmental, political, and institutional needs of the inhabitants in the watershed.…”

“…Watershed management has evolved through various stages of social development, starting with a local problem and extending to larger territorial issues [2,10,11]. Watershed management addresses anthropic problems [7], current land use [12], land use conflicts [13], excessive use of ecological resources [9], biological resources [14], water resources [15]. To solve these problems, watershed management employs multiple evaluation criteria, among them are the potential areas of intervention that can be addressed via environmental zoning (EZ) [9,10,16].…”

“…The most important thing in EZ is to design the potential areas of intervention with the protection, handling, management, and conservation of the environment (natural resources) [5,9,13] in mind, without overlooking the essential issue of the -basic needs of the population‖ [4,17,18]. EZ involves the integration, analysis, and planning with respect to controversial issues such as territorial planning [15,16,19], potential use of natural resources [6], evaluation of environmental impacts [3,18], deterioration of natural resources [1], spatial distribution of the population and anthropic impacts [5,16], efficient and productive industrial activities [9], demographic characterization, manipulation of current land use [8,15], capacity of load that the soil resists in the formation of new resources (mentioned by institutions and governmental political norms) [20], edaphological and ecological characteristics [21,22], land cover according to the natural cover (non-anthropic origin) [16,21,23], and natural areas protected by government institutions (foreign and/or local laws) [7,17,24,25]. To implement EZ, it is necessary to start with socioeconomic and biophysical parameters [13,21].…”

“…To delimit the biophysical characteristics, socioeconomic states, and potential areas of intervention in EZ [5], the application of geographic information system (GIS) is useful [1,3,12,33]. GIS facilitates areal planning within the watershed [1][2][3]33], and monitoring the watershed's recovery is facilitated through satellite images [2,12,15,21,28]. Through a mathematical combination between bands of the same sensor, it is possible to study temporal patterns of natural resources, such as soil and plants [12].…”

Anais Do I Congresso Norte Nordeste De Ciências Agrárias (Online) – Avanço Tecnológico E Sustentabilidade

“…O zoneamento edafoclimático é uma ferramenta importante de planejamento agrícola e tomadas de decisões, assim, reduzindo riscos de perdas no cultivo, uma vez que avalia a compatibilidade entre as espécies e o ambiente, caracterizando regiões com maior ou menor aptidão, contribuindo para o planejamento de políticas públicas que beneficiam o desenvolvimento socioeconômico da região (Santos et al, 2020). Dessa forma, se faz importante uma avaliação do zoneamento de aptidão edafoclimática como representação das condições atuais de cultivo da bananeira no Nordeste brasileiro, que se situa como um importante centro na produção frutícola.…”