What Is Agroforestry, and Why Will It Change How We Farm?

Brazil stands out in world agricultural production, whether by land area or by export volume. According to recent data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, more than R$600 billion (gross production value) was produced in the 2019 harvest, with R$394.76 billion referring to agriculture and R$207.15 billion referring to livestock. Of this amount, between 50 and 70% were produced by family farming. These figures are led by Mato Grosso, São Paulo, Paraná, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul. However, the environmental impacts caused by the sector are also well known and criticized by society and the international media, which labels agriculture as the main responsible for climate change, loss of soil fertility and forests.

These concerns are growing as the world’s population, demand for natural resources and carbon emissions rise, and the effects of climate change become more visible. This scenario, although problematic, helps us remember that, as farmers, we must think of soil as the greatest productive asset we have, further highlighting the importance of converting our agriculture to productive models that mitigate these impacts and demonstrate that food production can be done in harmony with regenerative practices; In other words, in addition to conservation, we must think about optimizing land use.

“We can produce food and regenerate ecosystems without separating conservation from agricultural production. This solution is called agroforestry”

Fertile, healthy soil will produce healthy plants, with high nutritional density and high resistance to pests and diseases. Fortunately, the opportunities that scientific advances and a holistic understanding of the landscape bring us make it possible to bring ecology and agriculture together, maximizing the planet's productive possibilities.

In other words, by mimicking the logic of forests, we can produce food and regenerate ecosystems without separating conservation from agricultural production. This solution is called agroforestry.

Agroforests are ancient anthropogenic systems, created in the early days of agriculture, more than 13 thousand years ago in the Fertile Crescent – region located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers – and applied, even today, in an empirical and almost instinctive way by several native peoples and small rural producers around the world.

Agroforestry systems build three-dimensional productive fields, replicating natural dynamics and arrangements, in time and space, using the logic of stratification and succession. In other words, using multiple vertical layers, maximizing the productive area, the photosynthetic rate, the conservation of soil fertility, water retention, the reduction of the use of chemical inputs and, consequently, production. Quite simply, it means bringing trees into production systems or bringing agriculture into forests.

When we produce in line with the logic that nature has developed over millions of years, we use all this intelligence to our advantage, and we begin to leave behind heavy input agriculture, in which the soil is seen only as a support substrate, plants rely on chemical fertilizers for nutrients and pesticides for pest control.

In agroforestry, inputs give way to production and management processes and monoculture makes room for polyculture and biodiversity. Precisely what makes regenerative systems more profitable is the increase in diversity and intercropping with perennial plants, drastically reducing intensive soil management and the use of chemical inputs.

“Farmers of all scales can adopt agroforestry systems, at least on a portion of their properties, often making use of their legal reserves”

With simple changes in management practices and gradual replacement of some inputs, farmers of all scales can adopt agroforestry systems, at least on a portion of their properties, often making use of their legal reserves (RL).

There are countless examples, in Brazil and around the world, of profitable and operationally possible agroforestry systems, including on a large scale. The increase in production is around 60% and, in addition, the greater diversity of products associated with the price premium for quality and added value promote much greater gains than the organic market.

If there are so many challenges associated with climate and socio-biodiversity, and if agroforestry promotes ecosystem balance, climate, economic and food resilience, why is it not a system massively applied in agriculture yet?

As old as agroforests may seem, only in the last decade has the systematization of management practices and the economic modeling of regenerative systems started to take shape and gain followers on a large scale. And only through the systematization of designs did agroforestry systems become replicable, being able to be implemented in any biome and for any crop, from grains to livestock.

“We are approaching and witnessing the birth of change in the current production system, as agroforests can promote a higher carbon fixation rate than the preservation of the forest itself”

The main obstacle for the adoption of more biodiverse and regenerative systems is the change in thinking. We are witnessing the beginning of the transformation of production systems on the planet. Rapid global change is also pushing people to rethink agriculture. Consumer market awareness also boosts and accelerates regenerative businesses.

Even though we have a long way to go and a technical framework to be developed, there is no doubt that farmers, technicians and investors who invest in agroforestry today will be much more prepared for a competitive market, which becomes more robust and real every day. In a few years, professionals trained in complex agroforestry systems will be in a position of considerable advantage in the market, leading the understanding of the productive mechanisms of a new, resilient and profitable agriculture.

We are not just talking about a change towards a more regenerative agriculture: we are approaching and witnessing the birth of a change in the current production system, as agroforests can promote a higher carbon fixation rate than the preservation of the forest itself. In other words, in some cases, agriculture done this way can be better for the environment than the untouched forest itself.

The creation of sustainable and regenerative agriculture and livestock, in its different scopes, is a global need and a market opportunity for Brazilian farmers and ranchers. Biodiverse and complex productive arrangements, including trees in the landscape, such as agroforestry systems, present themselves not just as another alternative, but rather as the solution that has the real potential to transform Brazilian agribusiness into a sector that, in addition to being financially viable, provides positive environmental impacts for society and the planet. Let's be more than the world's productive breadbasket: let's be the solution!

Author: Everton

Source: Globo Rural