Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Conversion of burned to unburned sug-
arcane production systems results in undis-
putable gains in SCSs in the surface layers.
A study in a São Paulo plantation showed a
41% gain in the surface layer 8 years after
replanting (Galdos et al ., 2009). However,
more research should be done to reveal the
SCS levels at greater depths.
Soil degradation brought about by agri-
cultural expansion can be very rapid and
implies a strong decrease of SCSs, espe-
cially in sandy soils. Soil texture was found
to be one of the most important factors that
controlled land-use impacts on vegetation
structure (Gili et al ., 2010), biomass produc-
tion and carbon sequestration or losses.
Most of the results shown were ob-
tained from experimental sites, where agri-
cultural management was optimized and the
variability of soil, topography and other bio-
physical and agronomical features were
minimized, to ensure scientific precision.
Ideally, full carbon accounting of the differ-
ent agricultural systems in the region should
be carried out, considering indirect impacts,
such as increased use of fossil fuel-derived
fertilizers and other inputs with high carbon
footprints in the management systems.
Although the global need for a reduc-
tion of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
calls for the implementation of agricultural
systems with lower carbon footprints, the
local role of soil carbon storage in soil fertil-
ity and agricultural production emerges as
an important regional issue. Therefore, in-
tensification of current agricultural and live-
stock production systems, using existing
technology and developing innovative solu-
tions, is the most effective way to ensure the
sustainable development of rural areas.
The data presented support the import-
ance of no-tillage systems for soil carbon
capture and storage, hydrologic regulation,
soil erosion control and resilience to ex-
treme events, but suggest that new agricul-
tural practices aimed to increase carbon up-
take by the vegetation and into the soil are
needed. Such objectives can be achieved by
developing site-specific management of
multi-cropping systems that capture more
efficiently the available water, carbon and
nutrients, rendering farmers with more op-
tions of marketable products, while in-
creasing farm agrobiodiversity and the de-
livery of ecosystem services. Incentive
policies aimed at the full adoption of
no-tillage systems with crop rotations with
legume cover species, commercial forestry
consociated with nitrogen-fixing legume
trees, acceleration of the implementation of
sugarcane anti-burning legislation and im-
provement of multi-cropping systems should
be implemented to stimulate a low carbon
agriculture throughout the continent.
Acknowledgements
This work received funding from the Inter-
American Institute for Global Change Re-
search (IAI), through the CRN II Program
(Project 2031), which is supported by the
US National Science Foundation (NSF
Grant GEO-0452325) and the IAI Project
'Land-use change, biofuels and rural devel-
opment in the Rio de La Plata Basin', sup-
ported by the International Development
Research Center (IDRC, grant 104783-001).
The authors would like to thank Edson
Sano for supplying land-use maps with the
delimitation of the Cerrado biome and
Taíssa Santos for helping with graphs and
formatting.
References
ABRAF (2012) ABRAF Statistical Yearbook 2012 base year 2011. Associação Brasileira de Produtores de
Florestas Plantadas, Brasília, DF, Brazil.
Álvarez, C.R., Duggan, M.T., Chamorro, E.R., D´Ambrosio, D. and Taboada, M.A. (2009) Descompactación
de suelos franco limosos en siembra directa: efectos sobre las propriedades edáficas y los cultivos.
Ciencia del Suelo 27, 159-169.
 
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