Soil quality: Relationship between the farmers perception and management systems in their agroecossystems

A ??poca em que vivemos demonstra sintomas claros da insustentabilidade do atual modelo de produ????o e consumo. A cr??tica a este modelo e sua rela????o com as in??meras cat??strofes ambientais e sociais, antes limitada a um grupo de ambientalistas, toma propor????es cada vez maiores, atingindo amplos setores da sociedade. As institui????es de pesquisa necessitam estar atentas a este momento, debatendo vivamente alternativas de produ????o e consumo que gerem menos impactos ambientais e sociais. A rela????o entre os conhecimentos tradicionais e os conhecimentos cient??ficos ?? uma chave para a constru????o de um novo conhecimento. O conhecimento dos agricultores sobre a qualidade e o manejo do solo ?? uma ferramenta para a constru????o de sistemas de manejo sustent??veis. Neste trabalho, foram avaliadas a percep????o e o manejo de solos de seis agricultores em transi????o para a agroecologia, participantes do projeto Rede de pesquisa participativa para a transi????o agroecol??gica da agricultura familiar no territ??rio sul do Rio Grande do Sul, realizado pela EMBRAPA Clima Temperado na Zona Sul do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Foram aplicadas entrevistas semi-estruturadas para a coleta destas informa????es. Foram realizadas an??lises quantitativas dos atributos do solo, seguindo a metodologia padr??o utilizada pelos Laborat??rios de An??lise de Solo da UFPel, com o objetivo de relacionar a percep????o dos agricultores com a condi????o atual dos atributos do solo nos agroecossistemas estudados. O objetivo do estudo foi verificar a coer??ncia entre a percep????o dos agricultores e suas pr??ticas de manejo. Os resultados verificados demonstram um complexo conhecimento dos agricultores em rela????o a qualidade do solo, bem como sobre pr??ticas de manejo que promovem a qualidade do solo, muitas delas amplamente referenciadas na literatura cient??fica. As avalia????es quantitativas da qualidade do solo nos agroecossistemas demonstraram resultados satisfat??rios, com resultados melhores que os ??ndices m??nimos encontrados na literatura cient??fica para os atributos qu??micos, f??sicos e biol??gicos, sendo a exce????o o pH, ??cido em algumas oportunidades. Em geral, o manejo realizado pelos agricultores ?? coerente com sua complexa vis??o de qualidade de solos, mesmo assim foram verificadas limita????es de diferentes naturezas ?? execu????o de pr??ticas de manejo. As principais limita????es encontradas foram as pequenas ??reas destes agricultores, dificultando ou n??o permitindo a realiza????o de pousio, a falta de acesso a sementes de esp??cies recomendadas para aduba????o verde e ?? fontes de esterco para a produ????o de adubo org??nico.The times we are living have been shown clear symptoms of unsustainability related to the current model of production and consumption. The criticism about such system and its relationship with innumerous social and environmental catastrophes, before restrict to a specific group of environmentalists, acquire major extents gathering largest society s segments. The research institutions must be focused on this moment, vigorously discussing new alternatives for consumption and production, which should be able to reduce the social and environmental damage. The partnership between the empirical and scientific knowledge is a key to perform a change in such paradigm. The farmers knowledge about the management and quality of the soil is a tool for building sustainable management systems. In the present study, were evaluated the perception and soil management skills of six farmers, in transition to agroecology, who are members of the project Participatory research network for the agroecological transition of farming family in the Rio Grande so Sul county implemented by EMBRAPA Clima Temperado at the south region of Rio Grande do Sul county, Brazil. To gather the needed information were applied semi-structured interviews. Then, were performed quantitative analyses about the soil attributes, applying the standard methodology used at the UFPel laboratories, aiming to relate the farmers perception with the current soil attributes collected in the quantitative analysis of studied ecosystems. The aim of present study was to verify the coherence between the farmers perception and their soil management practices. The verified results showed a complex knowledge of farmers about the soil quality and on management practices that promote soil quality, many widely referenced in scientific literature. The quantitative assessments related to the soil quality in agroecosystems showed satisfactory data, with better results than the minimum levels found in the scientific literature for the chemical, physical and biological characteristics, being the pH an exception, acid on some opportunities. At large, the handling executed by the farmers included in this study is coherent with their complex visions of soil quality, nevertheless were observed limitations of different nature in the implementation of handling practices. The aim limitations found were the small farmers land, which difficult or hamper to perform set-aside, the lack of access to seeds of recommended species to green manure and the lack of access to sources of manure to be applied organic fertilization