Local productive arrangements for biodiesel production in Brazil: Environmental assessment of small-holders integrated oleaginous crops management.

Sustainability assessments were carried out in small-holders? farms in four territories where productive arrangements have been organized for production of minor oleagi- nous crops under the Brazilian biodiesel program. The study aimed at checking local impacts of the biodiesel productive chains at the rural establishment scale, and pro- moting the environmental performance of the selected farms, henceforth proposed as sustainable management demonstration units. Assessments were carried out with the APOIA-NovoRural system, which integrates 62 objective and quantitative indicators re- lated to five sustainability dimensions: i) Landscape Ecology, ii) Environmental Quality (Atmosphere, Water and Soil), iii) Socio-cultural Values, iv) Economic Values and v) Management and Administration. The main results point out that, in general, the eco- logical dimensions of sustainability, that is, the Landscape Ecology and Atmosphere, Water, and Soil quality indicators, show adequate field conditions, seemingly not yet negatively affected by increases in chemical inputs and natural resources use predicted as important potential impacts of the agro-energy sector. The Economic Values indica- tors have been favorably influenced in the studied farms, due to a steadier demand and improved prices for the oleaginous crops. On the other hand, valuable positive conse- quences expected for favoring farmers? market insertion, such as improved Socio-cultural Values and Management & Administration indicators, are still opportunities to be ma-terialized. The Environmental Management Reports issued to the farmers, based on the presented sustainability assessment procedures, offer valuable documentation and com-munication means for consolidating the organizational influence of the local productive arrangements studied. These productive arrangements were shown to be determinant for the selection of crop associations and diversification, as well as for the provision of technical assistance and the stabilization of demand - conditions that promote value aggregation and income improvements, favoring small-holders? insertion in the market. More importantly, these locally organized productive arrangements have been shown to strongly influence the valorization of natural resources and environmental assets, which are fundamental if sustainable rural development is to take place under the emerging agro-energy scenario.

Assessment of sugarcane harvesting residue effects on soil spectral behavior

When the harvesting of sugarcane involves a mechanized process, plant residues remain on the soil surface, which makes proximal and remote sensing difficult to monitor. This study aimed to evaluate, under laboratory conditions, differences in the soil spectral behavior of surface layers Quartzipsamment and Hapludox soil classes due to increasing levels of sugarcane?s dry (DL) and green (GL) leaf cover on the soil. Soil cover was quantified by supervised classification of the digital images (photography) taken of the treatments. The spectral reflectance of the samples was obtained using the FieldSpec Pro (350 to 2500 nm). TM-Landsat bands were simulated and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and soil line were also determined. Soil cover ranged from 0 to 89 % for DL and 0 to 80 % for GL. Dry leaf covering affected the features of the following soil constituents: iron oxides (480, 530 and 900 nm) and kaolinite (2200 nm). Water absorption (1400 and 1900 nm) and chlorophyll (670 nm) were determinant in differentiating between bare soil and GL covering. Bands 3 and 4 and NDVI showed pronounced variations as regards differences in soil cover percentage for both DL and GL. The soil line allowed for discrimination of the bare soil from the covered soil (DL and GL). High resolution sensors from about 50 % of the DL or GL covering are expected to reveal differences in soil spectral behavior. Above this coverage percentage, soil assessment by remote sensing is impaired.

Impact assessment of the production and utilization of entomopathogens and its effects on public policies.

2008