A Look at Amazon Basin Seasonal Dynamics with the Biophysical ...

STRATEGIES FOR RESTORATION OF DEGRADED PASTURES IN AMAZONIAEXAMINING AGRONOMIC, ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC CRITERIACarlos Clemente CerriBrigitte Josefine FeiglMarisa de Cássia PiccoloMaria da Conceição Santana CarvalhoJerry Michel MelilloChristopher NeillPaul SteudlerDiana GarciaCentro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura – CENA/USPAv. Centenário, 30313416-000 Piracicaba-SPe-mail: cerri@cena.usp.brPastures make up the principal use of cleared land in the Brazilian Amazon. Observationsshow that after 4 to 10 years after they are formed, pastures generally begin a process ofdegradation that characterized by a decline in grass productivity and an increase in thecover of weeds. For both environmental and economic reasons, development of strategiesfor reformation and restoration of these existing degraded pastures is preferable toformation of new pastures by traditional slash and burn activities. The objective of thisproject is to examine strategies for recuperation of degraded pastures in Amazôniaexamining agronomic, environmental and economic criteria. To achieve this objective, weare conducing an experiment on an existing 63-ha area of pasture in the process ofdegradation located at Fazenda Nova Vida, in Ariquemes, Rondônia. The experimentconsist of four blocks (replicates) of six pasture reformation techniques: 1) control, 2)herbicide + NPK +micronutrients, 3) disking + NPK + micronutrients, 4) plowing + disking+ planting of rice + NPK + micronutrients and 5) plowing + disking + planting of soybean+ NPK + micronutrients. Before and during the three years following the initiation of thetreatments, they will be evaluated for a number of agronomic, environmental and economiccriteria. Results will be analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance to determine thetreatments that best meet the criteria in each of the three areas and to examine the tradeoffsbetween these reformation objectives.