Practices for the improvement of the agricultural resilience of the forage production in semiarid environment: a review

Abstract

Water scarcity, climatic conditions and low availability of fodder produced in Caatinga are some of the main problems faced by farmers in the Brazilian semiarid region. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to review some agricultural resilience practices that aim to increase forage production in the Brazilian semiarid. Several studies have shown that the use of fodder plants tolerant to this type of environment is essential to improve the production of ruminant feed. Among these, we highlight the forage cactus, which is rich in water, energy and minerals and highly tolerant to water deficit. Millet, in turn, is another plant that adapts to this environment, presenting better nutritional characteristics, besides being a more fibrous vegetable, and can be associated with cactus in the diet of the herds. This association can be done through the intercropping, which allows the simultaneous cultivation of two or more species in the same area, aiming at the most efficient use of available natural resources. The use of irrigation events with minimal and regular water use in cactus crops has been shown to be a very promising practice. However, the scarcity of this resource in semiarid regions, adding to this increasing salt concentrations in the springs, requires proper management. Additionally, other agricultural resilience practices, such as mulching, can directly contribute to reducing the need for irrigation, conserving soil moisture, decreasing soil thermal amplitude, improving its chemical, physical and biological properties, contributing to improved agricultural yields.

Intensificação de sistemas de produção de palma forrageira por meio de consorciação rotativa com gramíneas, leguminosas e oleaginosas: uma revisão

“…Tal família apresenta 178 gêneros, contemplando em torno de 2.000 espécies conhecidas. Contudo, os dois gêneros de palma mais utilizados para a produção de forragem no semiárido brasileiro são a Opuntia e Nopalea (Galvão Júnior et al, 2014;Souza et al, 2019;Jardim et al, 2020a;Jardim et al, 2021c).…”

Combined agricultural practices in millet and cactus: phyllochron, structural characteristics and relations with yield

“…Livestock farming is an important activity in arid and semi-arid regions and is susceptible to the seasonality of the rainfall regime and the consequent reduction of forage supply (Jardim et al, 2021a;Souza et al, 2022). Therefore, expanding the options for the adaptation of forage crops and adopting agricultural practices, such as minimal irrigation, intercropping, and straw mulching, represents a form of coexistence with climatic adversities (Souza et al, 2019;Souza et al, 2021).…”

Improving productivity and water use efficiency by intercropping cactus and millet

“…In addition, the arable area is small, which makes it difficult to produce forage to meet the demand for animals throughout the year. Therefore, the adoption of resilient strategies becomes crucial to the good performance of rural activities and to optimize water resources (Souza et al, 2019). The use of adapted species, irrigation, intercropping and mulching is common in various production systems, especially in semi‐arid environments (Carvalho et al, 2017; Jardim et al, 2020; Lima et al, 2018; Souza et al, 2021).…”