Soil fertility in indigenous swidden fields and fallows in northern Amazonia, Brazil

Abstract

In the northern Brazilian Amazon, indigenous peoples who inhabit the savannas of Roraima, plant their crop fields in frequently managed “forest islands” using a rotating “slash‐and‐burn” system. The system advocates long‐term sustainability, but population growth and threats to indigenous lands have led to shorter rotations and greater frequency of use of forest island areas. Our objective was to examine soil texture and fertility (0–20 cm in depth) in indigenous crop fields (roças) and fallow lands (capoeiras, secondary forests), generating recommendations that may help to optimize traditional soil management. Results indicated that roça sites are less acidic than capoeira sites, which was expected as ashes produced by burning are alkalizing, but acidity did not increase again after 8 months of cultivation, and pH was high in all sites (>6). The general increase in nutrients expected in roças compared with capoeiras did not occur. The expected decrease of soil fertility after first months of cultivation did not happen, nor the increase of soil fertility according to fallow length. Overall, soil texture proved to be the main determinant of fertility. The unexpected results suggest that the edaphic processes resulting from the traditional indigenous cultivations, practised for centuries or millennia in this region, likely contributed to the current stabilization of soil acidity and fertility. The stable moderate fertility and stable high pH observed in all sites are advantages for production in slash‐and‐burn systems in this region, and this is especially important for more pressured areas, where agroecological practices could improve soil use and management. Although not determinant for soil fertility recovery at the studied depth (0–20 cm), the fallow period (growth of capoeiras) is still important for recovery of environmental and social functions of forest islands.