Soil scholars from several countries learn about vegetable production in the Serra Fluminense

81 researchers from countries as diverse as France, Hungary, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Sudan climbed the mountains of the state of Rio de Janeiro towards the municipality of Nova Friburgo (150 kilometers from the capital) on August 15th for one of the technical field trips of XXI World Soil Science Congress, which takes place in the city of Rio de Janeiro until August 17th.

The first stop was at the foot of a tourist attraction, the Dedo de Deus peak, where it was possible to have a privileged view of the geological formation of the area, Guanabara Bay and the cities of Guapimirim and Teresópolis. “The region is very interesting geographically, in just a few kilometers we leave Baixada to reach almost a thousand meters high”, said Embrapa Solos (Rio de Janeiro-RJ) researcher Ademir Fontana, one of the guides.

At the second point, in Nova Friburgo, the attraction was an oxisol characteristic of the region, with a large thickness of surface horizon, dark, with a high content of organic matter. This type of soil does not exist outside of Brazil, and was formed approximately three thousand years ago. The unusual profile of this soil open to visitors caught the attention of Finnish scientist Miriam Nystrand, from Abo Akademi University. “The acidity of the soil is incredible, the pH reaches 4.2”.

The “youth” of the soil impressed German researcher Einar Eberhardt, from German Federal Institute for Geoscience and Natural Resources (Hanover). “Here we are in the subtropics, we even have similar land in Germany, but only as paleosols, very old and with a very different surface horizon.”

The area dedicated to technical visits produces vegetables (lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and tomatoes) in family production.