Profile of Farmers and Soil Fertility after 40 Years of Land Use in the Cerrado Biome, Brazil.

Brazil is recognized worldwide to be a potential four F’s country – food, fuel, fiber and forest. Nowadays, the most part of Brazilian crop-livestock-forest area is concentrated in the Cerrado Biome. From 1975’s this biome has been gradually converted from native vegetation to crop, pasture and planted forests. Naturally dominated by acid and low fertility soils, the use of liming, gypsum, potassium, phosphate and micronutrients fertilizers and adoption of no-tillage system was determinant for agricultural exploration. This work makes an inventory of farmer’s profile and soil fertility status in a representative and intensive agricultural area in Cerrado Biome, Brazil. One-hundred and twenty farms were selected in the Triângulo Mineiro and Alto Paranaíba regions, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. In each farm, topsoil samples (0-20 cm) were collected in the main land use and determined the following attributes: pH, cation exchange capacity, available P, Ca, Mg and K, exchangeable Al and organic matter. Considering all farmers, 43% consider adopting no-tillage system, 11% minimum tillage and 46% still remain in conventional system. The conventional farmers (almost 50%) declared that they do not receive any technical agricultural assistance. Moreover, only 29% of farmers have been receiving farming funding resources. Also, the farmers highlighted some difficulties of agricultural extension programs. Compared to native Cerrados’s soils, preliminar results showed that the soil fertility has been build-up, however, satisfactory contents of P, Ca, Mg, K, and mainly organic matter were not reached. Acknowledgments: Fapemig, Agrisus (2030/17) CNPq and Capes.