ABSTRACT
The aim of this project was to evaluate the Regenerative and Analogous Agroforestry Systems (SAFRA) on environmental sustainability, using as indicators the biomass increase or accumulation and nutrients deposition through litter arboreal species. This work is part of PRODETAB/EMBRAPA - 39th Project - and was developed in Goura Vrindávna Farm, Paraty - RJ. 28 multipurpose arboreal species were cultivated in three agroforestry treatments, Minimum SAFRA (simplified system of the banana culture enrichment), Absolute SAFRA (dense and diversified system) and Modified SAFRA (the same composition of the latter SAFRA plus soil fertilization). For evaluating nutrients deposition through litter fifteen months after planting, samples of three Safra and two control treatments, banana culture and area in fallow, were collected with 625cm2 collectors. Macro and micronutrients determinations were done in the samples. The Minimum SAFRA was the system that deposited the greatest weight in litter (32.4 t.ha-1) and the greatest content of micro and macronutrients. Excepting C and H, N was the one which presented greatest content in the five treatments, and Fe was the micronutrients of major deposition. The vegetation pruning in the SAFRA benefited the nutrients cycling and contributed to its content elevation in litter. Considering the nutrients deposition through litter, the SAFRAs were the most promissory systems in the re-establishing of these ecological functions, when compared to area in fallow and banana monoculture.
Keywords:
Agroforestry systems; sustainability; nutrient cycling