Babassu palm in the agroforestry systems in Brazil’s Mid-North region

Abstract

Babassu palms (Orbignya spp.) cover nearly 200,000 km 2 in Brazil, providing cash income, fuel, fibre, edible oil and food to a large number of tenant farm households. Babassu is closely integrated within pastoral and shifting cultivation systems of Mid-North Brazil. In pastures, babassu provides shade for cattle, aids soil moisture retention, produces organic matter, generates supplementary farm income at little cost, and offers year-round employment. On the other hand, the persistence of juvenile palms reduces pasture grass productivity due to plant competition, and therefore there is a trend to eradicate babassu through clearcutting and understorey suppression. At moderate densities of less than 100 individuals per ha, mature babassu palms in cropland do not appear to harm crop productivity. In such cases, palms are thinned and leaves of the remaining ones are cut back, supplying fuel for the burn and nutrients to the soil. However, reduced fallow cycles due to pasture conversion threaten babassu as well as crop productivity. Resumo. Palmeiras de baba~u (Orbignya spp.) 0ccorrem em quase 200.000km 2 no Brasil, proporcionando renda em dinheiro, combustivel, fibras, 6leo e alimentos para eerca de quinhentas mil familias de pequenos produtores rurais, a maioria arrendat~irios ou posseiros. O baba~u aparece integrado dentro de sistemas de produq~o pastoris e de agricultura migrat6ria no Meio Norte do Brasil. Nas pastagens, o baba~u prov~ somhra para o gado, ajuda na reten~o da umidade no solo, produz mat6ria org~nica,. gera renda suplementar corn investimento mlnimo, e oferece condi~Ses para fixar a forqa de trabalho durante a entressafra dos pr0dutos agricolas. A presenqa de palmeiras" }uvenis, por6m, reduz-a produtividade dos pastos devido a eompeti~o, o que leva os criadores de gado a erradicar o baba~u, suprlmindo tanto as palmeiras juven~s, como as palmeiras adultas. No que diz respeito ~t agricultura migrat6ria, o baba~u adulto em densidades moderadas, ou seja, at6 100 indivfduos por hectare, aparentemente n~o reduz a produtividade das culturas anuais. Nestes casos, parte das palmeiras s~o desbastadas e as folhas das restantes cortadas, proporcionando c_ombustivel para_ a queima e nutrientes para o solo. No entanto, a redu~o nos ciclos de descanso devido ~ convers~o das terras agricolas em pastagens ameaqa a produtividade quer do baba~u quer das pr6prias culturas.

The Contribution of Forests and Trees to Sustainable Diets

“…ex Spreng.) in northeast Brazil, which is integrated into local farmers' shifting cultivation systems [168], and fruit trees planted at an early stage in agricultural settlements [169]. Research and development practitioners must start thinking about ways to develop innovative roles for agro-ecosystems and heterogeneous landscapes, so as to ensure that food production systems and value chains are more nutrition-sensitive, while minimizing their ecological footprint [1].…”

Disproportionate single-species contribution to canopy-soil nutrient flux in an Amazonian rainforest

“…If the arboreal accumulation of organic matter and the funneling of water by babassu palms is the primary mechanism that enriches stemflow, we would expect this effect to be greater during the wet season when rainfall solute concentrations are low compared with the dry season or early wet season when rainfall solute fluxes and fluxes originating from dry deposition are higher (Germer et al, 2007). Slash-and-burn systems that include babassu palms are widespread in northeastern Brazil (Gehring et al, 2011;May et al, 1985). Recent research focuses on agroforestry with permanent vegetation cover including babassu palms as an alternative for slash-and-burn (Moura et al, 2009).…”

Incomes from the forest: methods for the development and conservation of forest products for local communities

“…In many situations, fallow land, farm bush and even the forest itself have in fact been found to be actively managed by local users to conserve or encourage species of value. The babaçu palm (Orbygnia phalerata) in northeast Brazil has long been integrated into local farmers shifting cultivation systems (May et al 1985), and farmers in the flood-plain forests of the Amazon area manage them to favour the economically more valuable species they contain . Rattan and fruit gardens are examples of enriched forest management systems in Kalimantan (Peluso and Padoch 1996).…”

“…Income from the collection and processing of babaçu palm kernels in northeast Brazil has been shown to account for 39 per cent of cash income and 34 per cent of total household income during the seasonal slack period in agriculture. Many of the poorer farmers were dependent on this cash for purchasing seed and other inputs for the new season s planting (May et al 1985). A study in the forest-savanna zone of Guinea found that needs for fuelwood and poles were mainly met from by-products of the agricultural cycle, and that farmers sequence their wild plant collection and trading incomes with seasonal needs, e.g., to purchase seeds, hire labour for cultivation, and buy food at harvest to be processed and sold during the dry season.…”