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• CIRAD
• Empresa brasileira de pesquisa agropecuaria (EMBRAPA) Belem, Brazil
• Instituto de pesquisa ambiental da amazonia (IPAM), Belem, Brazil
• Ministry of the Environment (Proambiente Programme), Brazil
• Fundaçao agroecologica do nordeste paraense (FANEP), Belem, Brazil
• Fundaçao viver produzir preserva (FVPP), Altamira, Brazil
• Universidad agronoma de la Selva (UNAS), Peru
• Instituto nacional de investigaciones agropecuarias (INIAP), Ecuador

Boosting agricultural output without clearing forest areas seemed to Brazilian farmers to be unthinkable. The FLOAGRI project finally proved otherwise recently. In Amazonia, the soil is shallow and fragile, and recently cleared forest zones are not generally productive for any more than two to three years. Farmers thus soon have to clear other areas. To help them escape from this vicious circle, the FLOAGRI project, for FLOresta e AGRIcultura (Forest and Agriculture in English), has served to develop crop management sequences to allow them to farm a given field sustainably. In addition, thought has also been given to the management of wooded areas. Under a recent federal state law, such zones should make up 80% of estates. How can farmers draw an income from these uncleared forest areas? The FLOAGRI project, which was launched in 2005, has just been completed, and at least partly answered these questions.

Yields three times the regional average

In Brazil, a dozen farmers took part in the project. Their main concern was food security, so the first priority was to set up, on one to two hectares, permanent rice or maize plantings on unproductive land or new plots to be perpetuated. "To begin with, it is often essential to apply at least small amounts of fertilizer and herbicides to keep weeds under control ," explains Plinio Sist, FLOAGRI coordinator and CIRAD researcher. "But yields are better: between 4 and 6 tonnes of cereals per hectare compared to a regional average of 1 to 2 tonnes/ha ."
To maintain these crops in a more environmentally friendly way, the agronomists involved set out to adapt direct seeding, mulch-based cropping systems (DMCs) to humid tropical conditions. DMCs are generally practised in areas with less rainfall, the aim being to cover fields with selected plants just before harvesting, to prevent weed development. Adapting such systems to conditions in the Amazon Basin is a long-term project: in particular, planting dates for the cover crop, a vital factor in this type of climate, have yet to be determined. However, the method should eventually enable farmers to cut their herbicide and also fertilizer use, since DMCs have a second advantage: if the cover crop is a legume, a plant family known to enrich the soil in nitrogen, it becomes a veritable natural fertilizer.
Implementing the crop management sequence proposed by FLOAGRI calls for an initial investment of around 2500 euros in materials, soil analyses and inputs. This sum corresponds to the loans granted to farmers by the family agriculture support programme (PRONAF). "The farmers we worked with are enthusiastic. " the researcher adds. "No longer having to clear forest considerably reduces workloads. Moreover, production surpluses can be sold or used to feed poultry ."

Combining agriculture and forestry for sustainable territorial development

As for the forest, since it is no longer cleared, it is again part of farms in the region and can thus be exploited. How can it be managed sustainably? This question formed the second phase of the FLOAGRI project. Wood sales generate substantial but very occasional income: only three or four trees per hectare are available every 30 years. According to Plinio Sist, one way of exploiting the wood produced sustainably while ensuring more regular income is to group farmers together in cooperatives. "To promote community management, we assessed how forestry development plans could be implemented, in order to draw up recommendations, for instance concerning minimum wood prices or the conditions for partnerships between forestry firms and farmers. " As regards non-wood resources (fruit, rubber, medicinal products), which could generate a steadier income, such resources constitute a heavy workload in view of the fluctuating, rapidly saturated market for them.

What now remains is for public policy to support the implementation of such crop management sequences to ensure that these models are widely adopted. The survival of family agriculture and protection of the Amazon rainforest depend on it.