The PPG consultations and analysis resulted in the pre-selection of these landscapes and the proposal of specific SLM practices for each. Within the pre-selected field sites different LD scenarios are encountered. Therefore, the project will support appropriate SLM practices as per characteristics of specific farms within the landscape. This will require a combination of technical analyses and consultations with local leaders, extension agents and individual family farmers during the inception phase. Thus at project outset, the specific location of each of these practices across the landscapes will be undertaken through further consultation with families and confirmation of on-site conditions including the degree of land degradation and the mix of SLM practices to be implemented in each specific site. Other criteria to be used to make this final selection in the landscape include type of vegetation, scale, farmer interests, local organization, co-funding availability and partnerships.
The SLM practices to be showcased have been piloted in other states and regions, but will be adapted to local conditions, especially as regards types of vegetation and fauna and socioeconomic conditions of agrarian reform settlements with different types and levels of land degradation and at scale across larger landscapes.
This project will support the implementation of SLM practices in the selected lots to demonstrate best practices for recovery of degraded land and sustainable management of natural resources in areas of moderate, accentuated and severe LD and in areas that are more conserved. In areas of moderate LD the SLM practices will aim at the technical control of soil erosion, such as rain-fed agriculture, cover crops, tillage, crop diversification, improved livestock and range control, including pest control for livestock and handling pastures. In areas of accentuated LD, measures oriented to the reduction of soil salinization by irrigation water management practices (collecting rainwater, drip irrigation) will be implemented. Finally, in areas of severe LD, the restoration/ recuperation of Legal Reserves and alternative production (e.g. honey production) will be implemented. The following paragraphs summarize the types of SLM to be implemented, while further details on this and on costs are also presented in Annex V.2, Part IV.
Emphasis will be placed on the implementation at scale of practices that have shown positive results in smaller more dispersed pilots. Amongst these are livestock agroforestry systems, forestry management for forage, soil and water conservation, recovery of degraded areas and beekeeping.
Livestock agroforestry systems tested by EMBRAPA, the Dom Helder project and the second National Meeting on Confronting Desertification (ENED II) indicate that livestock agroforestry systems, also known as silvopastoral systems, offer valuable beneficial effects in terms of maintaining soil fertility restoration and diverse forage support (leguminous trees, alley cropping) for cattle, sheep and goats, firewood production and reduction of environmental stress, while also obtaining higher production levels than monocultures and lower stress for livestock. However, traditions are being lost, especially in new agrarian reform settlements and among younger generations.
The use of Caatinga forest management for goat, cattle and sheep will also be implemented. This will build work in EMBRAPA and the Federal University of Campina Grande to improving livestock productivity, increase income and the availability of protein in livestock diet through silvopastoral management of the Caatinga.Sustainable livestock management will be implemented as part of an integrated SLM in the landscapes to reduce erosion processes linked to cattle trampling, adjust livestock stocks to carrying capacity, reduce livestock mortality in severe droughts and promote food security.
Irrigation can be an important agricultural technique to supply water to crops and produce high yields. Irrigation deficiencies will be addressed to promote the correct management of water in irrigation perimeters, thus avoiding unnecessary energy expenditures, reducing the cost of manual labor and soil salinization. Irrigation systems in settlements in the irrigation perimeters will be assessed to verify the design is appropriate for crop-needs without wasting water or causing erosion or salinization.
In addition, soil conservation practices will also be implemented to address the damage caused by excessive plowing and disking and the subsequent reduction of water infiltration into the soil. Practices to be implemented include zero tillage, crop systematization, liming, fertilization, soil decompaction, crop rotation systems, management of crop residues, contour plowing and soil preparation. These SLM techniques will entail both sustainable water and agriculture management, in line with agro-ecology. Again, these will be implemented in an integrated fashion, in order to promote higher productivity on land already cleared, lower use of water and soil, therefore improving water security.
A third set of practices to be implemented relates to recovery of areas degraded by overgrazing. This includes the introduction of native and/or exotic forage species adapted to local ecological conditions and introduction of sustainable ranching alternatives.
Initiatives for implementation and development of practices to increase production in forests as a subcomponent of the agro-ecosystems within settlements ensuring careful planning and technical assistance to complement characteristic products of the family farm, which must be conducted with. Caatinga vegetation is known for its richness and diversity of NTFP ,including honey, oils, waxes, fibers, food, fodder and wood that is not timber. In the Alto Sertão, forest resources are currently underutilized. The absence of some of these products has been attributed to laco of knowledge and lack of consumer markets. Other Caatinga products common in the region are important for its sustainability, but have been extracted without due care. On the one hand, there are negative impacts as in the case of native honey extraction performed by some farmers that destroy hives,killing or expelling the bees. On the other hand, there are economic issues, as in the case of the umbu fruit characteristic of the region, which has good market acceptance, but has been harvested without minimal planning. Given this situation, the project aims to identify the potential for sustainable use of Caatinga forest fragments in settlements and, together with the communities, discuss and implement sustainable techniques of extraction, processing and marketing. The project will liaise with the EMBRAPA UNDP GEF project that will work on markets and finance for NTFP including umbu.
The project will address shortages of native seed that currently impede more widespread conservation and use of agro-biodiversity. It will support the collection and characterization of existing landraces and traditional varieties and select those that are most productive and adapted so that they can be multiplied and made available to settlers and farmers in appropriate combinations. This will build on and coordinate with work proposed under the GEF FAO project
One of the best sustainable uses of the Caatinga forest is beekeeping of both exotic (Apis mellifera) and native (stingless) species of bees. The former have higher productivity and the latter produce honey used for medicinal purposes. The Caatinga is one of the biomes most suitable for honey production, but beekeeping is still spotty because of fear of the bees, lack of familiarity with native beekeeping and regulatory barriers. Brazilian beekeeping is undergoing expansion, including international recognition of methodology for management of Africanized European bees (Apis mellifera scutellata), which are now omnipresent (not being introduced by the project), and significant growth of the beekeeping industry and world markets given recent die-off of bees in other countries. The project will promote rational beekeeping based on improvement of bee pasture (vegetation cover) for the production of honey, pollen and propolis with exotic and native species, contributing to food security and household income.
The project will compile the best practices in each field landscape, monitoring soil quality and water management. Economic analysis of production practices (ability to pay, need for private and public investment), as well as socioeconomic and environmental analyses about the effects of management practices and their effects on the landscape will be undertaken to develop specific plans for replication. The results will be integrated into the state's Environmental Recovery Plan by EMDAGRO and CFAC. The SLM practices experiences will be replicated to other settlements in the Sergipe ASDs through co-financing from a number of stakeholders, including public financing. The results also will be compiled and disseminated and will serve as useful tools for guiding licensing process in ASDs at the state and national level. This will include an outreach program or both extension workers and farmers with teaching-learning materials to support this dissemination. For this purpose, the project will establish partnerships with IABS, EMDAGRO, ATER and Federal Institutes (IFs) that provide technical training, among others.
