Work

Slash-and-burn agriculture in southern Brazil: characteristics, food production and prospects

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: There is a shortage of studies about slash-and-burn in well-established agricultural systems and its importance for improving food production and enhancing biodiversity and agricultural diversity in the tropics and sub-tropics. A long and important tradition of slash-and-burn in black bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) production persists in the Prudentópolis municipality in southern Brazil. This agricultural system is practised over hilly terrain with shallow soil. In addition, mountainous areas prevent agricultural modernization, ensuring the persistence of this farming technique. Using an official dataset of bean production and semi-structured interviews with farmers and agricultural experts, the paper investigates slash-and-burn characteristics in a consolidated agricultural region and assesses the prospects for its persistence. The slash-and-burn system, intended mainly for bean crops, corresponds to 30% of the total bean yield in Prudentópolis. Slash-and-burn agriculture has a vital role to play for local food production and a sustainable eco-system. Therefore, a demographic and land-use transition might be experienced in this region and in similar regions in the tropics, with social and environmental implications for food production, land use dynamics and rural migration and development.

Source: Scottish Geographical Journal

DOI: 10.1080/14702541.2020.1776893

Authors: Thomaz Edivaldo, Staffan Rosell

Institutions: Universidade Estadual do Centro-Oeste, University of Gothenburg

Language: English

Topic: Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development

Subfield: General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDGs: Life on land, Zero hunger, Responsible consumption and production, Climate action

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: Magnus Bergvalls Stiftelse