PRETATERRA answers: in the agroforestry system of Timburi, what is the role of pink pepper?

If you follow our IG (link), you've seen that we've been posting a lot about what we're doing on Timburi Project. We posted a video explaining the planting of one of the systems implemented there, and Alexandra Nogueira asked the following question:

“Are the pepper and avocado lines planted to protect the coffee plantation? Sorry to ask, I don't understand. We plant coffee and the pink pepper here in native to my region. We live in the region of Linhares-ES. It is between Linhares and Pontal do Ipiranga.”

Alexandra, thanks for joining us! Your question refers to SAF Frutas, which is an agroforestry system that we developed for the Timburi Project that focuses on avocado production. In this system we do not have coffee, but lines of tree species (medium and long cycle wood and avocado), interspersed with lines of service species. We explain a little about this system here.

Why do we include aroeira-pimenteira in the system?

Speaking specifically about SAF Frutas, aroeiras-pimenteiras were included as dual-purpose service species, that is, their purpose within the system, in addition to nutrient cycling, biomass production and attraction of pollinators and dispersers, is the production of pepper. -pink. We include this species here because we mapped great regional potential for this culture.

Can aroeira-pimenteira be used for agroforestry systems with coffee?

The region of Linhares, ES, is privileged, a place of exuberant Atlantic Forest in the forests of Tabuleiro and mussunungas. In addition to the state having an aptitude for coffee, a large part, if not most of the production of pink pepper in Brazil is also concentrated there. Including aroeira-pimenteira in agroforestry systems with coffee makes perfect sense, as long as it is positioned logically in space and time. As it is a medium-sized and fast-growing tree, its management should be done periodically. And the presence of slower growing and larger trees together with pepper trees will protect the coffee by creating a microclimate making its system more resilient to climate change.