The impact of plans, policies, practices and technologies based on the
principles of conservation agriculture in the control of soil erosion in
Brazil
Abstract
Land use surveys show 30.5% of Brazil´s territory is dedicated to
production of food, fibers, biofuels and raw materials; however, soil
erosion is the main agent of land degradation and productivity
decreasing. This paper reports the impacts of the adoption of
conservation agriculture (CA) principles in controlling soil loss by
water erosion, where Zero Tillage (ZT) and integrated
Crop-Livestock-Forest (iCLF) management systems are the central
policies. Annual soil loss potential, estimated for a scenery lacking CA
practices, intensive conventional tillage and monoculture, is of 3.0
billion tons, with 29.5% of losses in croplands and 61.4% in
rangelands. The economic impact of soil erosion based only on nutrient
losses is estimated in 15.7 billion US dollars. Efforts to control water
erosion, intensify agricultural production and mitigate the emission of
greenhouse gases are the goal of a recent national governmental program
for detailed soil survey and interpretation for land use - PronaSolos.
Practices and technologies based on CA, such as ZT and iCLF, already
adopted in 44.4 million hectares, with an economic impact of 2.3 billion
US dollars, will be recommended to reach 60 million ha by the year 2025.
Other benefits are maintenance of rural roads, reduction of soil and
water pollution, increase of water quality and storage capacity of
reservoirs. The success of the program and current achievements with CA
in Brazil result from determination of farmers and many actors involved
in controlling soil erosion; as well as plans and policies to implement
practices and technologies based on CA principles.