Conserve and use soil

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply – MAPA proposed and became Law (n° 7.876 of 13/11/1989) celebrate on April 15th, "National Soil Conservation Day". This date was chosen in honor of the birth of Hugh Hammond Bennett, Considered the “father” of soil conservation in the United States. The performance of this researcher was fundamental for the establishment, in the United States, of National Soil Conservation Service, with very relevant impacts within and outside the country, including in Brazil. These actions were, in a certain way, consequences of the occurrence of a phenomenon known as "Dust Bowl" - intense and frequent episodes of erosion wind power in vast areas in the American Great Plains region, occurred in the 1930s, with environmental and economic consequences that affected the entire country.

Here in Brazil, in the 1970s – 1980, water erosion caused enormous losses in agricultural areas in southern Brazil country. The consequences of the soy/wheat succession, with the excessive use of plowing and harrows, carried enormous quantities of soil (fertilizers, limestone, organic...) into the rivers and destroyed roads and buildings, causing social damage and economic benefits. In response, farmers, research and development companies technical assistance, together with industries in the sector, developed the Plantio Direct - cultivation system without soil preparation, with maintenance of coverage surface area and with crop rotation. The adaptation and dissemination of this system allowed its use throughout the country with significant results and it is possible that it was one of the factors that made grain production viable in the region of the Cerrados.

Embrapa Agropecuária Oeste has participated in this process, with research and development of knowledge and technologies for soil conservation. The first works related to soil conservation, as soon as the experimental area was established, were quantification of erosion losses in different forms of soil management in portions of soil losses due to natural rain. Afterwards, the adaptation of seeders for Direct Planting, herbicides for desiccation, crops coverage for the production of the necessary straw and a series of research and technology transfer over the years. In the 1990s work began on the use of pastures to produce straw and crop rotation - crop-livestock integration systems.

Currently other lines of research are under development related to soil conservation, with emphasis on the project "Technological innovations to increase sustainability of production systems and the conservation of soil and water in areas of influence of the Itaipu Reservoir in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul" that is part of an established program by Itaipu Binacional aiming to conserve soil and water in the basins hydrographic systems that supply the plant's reservoir. In Mato Grosso do Sul, the basins hydrographic systems of the Ivinhema, Amambai and Iguatemi rivers are responsible for the reservoir supply, an extremely important region for production agriculture and especially the parts to the south and east are experiencing rapid and intense transformation, with the replacement of degraded pastures with soybean crops, cassava or sugarcane. The project, which aims to train professionals and producers on conservation technologies, among other actions, it is monitoring areas representative of the different production systems, under different forms of management and soil types. To this end, in addition to the methods traditional diagnostic systems, alternative systems to assess the quality of soil, whether from a chemical, physical or biological point of view. As examples the use of the DRES method to evaluate physical quality, infiltrometers to knowledge of the real water infiltration capacity, analysis of enzymes in the soil, use of soil moisture sensors in different situations, in addition to the use of vants to qualify conservation systems.

It is important that everyone is prepared and qualified for the use of natural resources in a sustainable way, aiming preserve/improve its quality and productive capacity.