MANGABEIRA, J. A. de

MATTOS, C.

MIRANDA, E. E. de

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----------_ ..---Arf"lT :1-0J-i9p, '/'lf{) i.~~'-\C,~L- PClsfrQ {;m'THE USE OF GIS TO ASSESS THE AGRICUL TURAL SUSTAINABILlTY IN TROPICAL RAIN FORESTSEvarlsto Eduardo de Mlranda 1,2Crlstlna Mattos 1,2Jolo Alfredo de Carvalho Mangabelra 1Núcleo de Monitoramento Ambiental (EMBRAPA-NMA) 1Av. Dr. Júlio Soares de Arruda 803, 13088-300, Campinas, SP, BrazitPhone: 55-192-525977, Fax 55-192-541100E-mail: postmaster@nma.embrapabrECOFORÇA - Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento 2R. José Inocêncio de Campos 148, 13024-230, Campinas, SP, BrazilPhone: 55-192-552284, Fax: 55-192-540343E-maU: ecof@brfapesp.bi!nelCommission VII, Working Group 9KEY WORDS: Amazon, RondOnia, Tropical Rarn Fores!, Agricultural Settlement, Sustainabrtity, Geoprocessing, GISApplications, Socioeconomical CartographyABSTRACT:Machadinho d'Oeste County (Stale of Rondõnia) has been lhe largel of a long-Ierm study of lhe agriculturalcolonization in the Amazonian Rain Forest. Since its implementalion in 1982, the characterislics and environmenlalimpads of the human occupation in Ihis region have been monitored by EMBRAPA-NMA and ECOFORCE usingremote sensing and geographic intormation systems techniques. Created as a settlement project for small farmers(INCRA and World Bank's POLONOROESTE Proqram), this area has been through allernated periods of prosperityand difficulties. In 1988 il became a counly, growing from the inilial area of 2,090 sq.krn and population of 3,000families 10 11,800 sq.km and over 44,000 inhabilanls. Since 1986, around 450 properties have been monitored bysatellite images and by geocodified field surveys Ihrough 200 agronomical, socioeconomical and environmenlalvanables Maps of Machadinho d'Oeste were digilized using a Brazilian GIS ("Sistema de Informações Geográficas" -SGI, INF'E) This cartographic database was then reclassified according to lhe relational databases. Virtually 200 mapswere generated for each sludy period. These diachronic data were lhe basis for the search and identification ofsuslainability indicators for lhe farming syslems in lhe agricultural settlemen!. Thanks to lhe use of GIS techniques ltwas possible to define some indicalors, to selecl lhe best farms in the sludied sample according 10 Iheir performances,and 10 map ali vartables, classes of efficiency and indicators.,_ INTRODUCTIONSustainabrlity has been one of lhe rnost discussed andcontroverslal aspects of agricultural policies anddevelopmenl plans. Many things have been said aboutpreservanon of productive resources, how 10 avoid Iheirexhaustion or extinction, how to assess agriculturalsustainability, and which criteria and indicators ofsustainability 10 consider in the case of agriculturalprojects.In lhe Amazon Region, the difficulties for implementationand sustainable maintenance of agroecosystems, inareas of tropical rain forest, are generalized.Thousands of small farmers have moved 10 public andprivate settlemenl projects in that region, particularly inr---~"'.'I ~Monitorllmento cor SatéliteBibliotecaL~~~T.:"!.::--:::::===_;=_==c_.jlhe slales of Rondônia and MaIo Grosso, durrng lhe past20 years. The environmenlal impacts caused by thelractivilies have been extensively disclosed, speclallydeforestalion and agricultural burnings (Baena 6t 81"1985; Teixeira, 1989; Homma, 1993; Engle, 1994).Due 10 lhe dynamics of lhe Amazonian ecological andsocioeconomical syslems, lhe search 01 suslalnablesystems for lhe agricullural colonizatlon projects In theregion and Iheir assessmenl require lime andperseverance.For Ihal reason, concerned wilh middle and long-termenvironmenlal moniloring, a leam of researchers fromlhe Environmenlal Moniloring Cenler (N ) of lheBrazillan Agency for Agricullural Research (EMBRAPA)and from lhe non-governmental organlzatlon323ECOFORCE - Research & Development has. for lhe past10 years. sludied lhe region of Machadinho d'Oesle. Innortheaslern Rondônla. in order to undersland theagricultura I transformation of lhe Amazon and ilsconsequences. Almosl 450 small larms have beenfollowed thanks 10various instilulional arrangemenls andcooperalions. particularly lhe financing from theInlerna!lonal Developmen! Research Centre (IDRC.Canada) and the support fr orn lhe Red In!ernaltonal deMetodologia de Inves!igaci6n de Sistemas de Producción(RIMISP)These tarrners, countinq only on luck and on Iheir formerexperienc'l" have developed In Ihat region. a higmutttlocat and multifaclor agrlcultural 'llo.perlment Thestlloy of lhe" propertias altowed lhe idf'nlification ofcases of 51Ir:(''''••5 among Ihf!m. which could bagane' alizpo and serve as Rxamples for social andpnvlronmPIlI::.1p/ogr"'"sPnor put-ucatlons have thorouqhly dflscrlbed. <lvpry Ihreflyears. lhe agronomlcal. socroeconorntcat and ecoloqlcAIcharactensncs of Ihp. agriculture pracliced In M::.ctlartl 110d'Oesle (Miranda. 1987. Mlranoa ai et , 1Q89. Matlos aiet , 1990a. 1990b. De Miranda & Maltos. 1992. Mtranda& Maltos. 1992. 1993)As a resutt of this 10-year rnorutonnq project, Ihls paperpresenls tllp first idenlificalion and definition of thesysterns of productlon and lhe aqncultunsts ofMachadinho d'Oeste Wllh lhe bes! agrnnomical.socioeconorrucal and environmental pertormances Theuse of gpogrilphical information syslems techruques(GIS) we« nll". nf lhe main 10015for this research2. OBJECTlVESThe mam objectives of Ihis research project were 10identify lhe mosI sustainable systems of productionpracticed by lhe small tarmers in Milchadinho d'Oeste,Rondõnia. from lhe agronomical. socioeconomical andenvironmenlal points of view. and to disserrunate lheresults 10 olher areas in lhe AmazonThes» m::'11Iobjectives were translated inlo lhe followingspecific objectives for this first phase of the research:• To char ::.rlp.flze lhe cXlsting systems of production andindicalors of their perfomance. based on lhe dalaobtained rn previous fiel surveys (1986 and 1989);• To iden!Ify lhe most efficienl farms for each Iype ofexislrng systerns of production;Several rnpthor!f)loglcal op.velopments were necessary 10assure lha I oach one of those specific objectives wereaccomplishod, specially lhe ones relaled 10 lhe mappingof nurnarica) dataThis paper shows lhe use of GIS 8$ a tool to ldentify lhomost sustainable syslems of production.3, MATERIAL3.1 Machadlnho d'Oe.teThe Machadinho d'Oeste Counly had its origln In theformer Machadinho Colonlzation Project. This wasrmplemenled by the National Inslilute for Colonizatlonand Agrarian Reform (lNCRA) In 1982, as part of thePOLONOROESTE Program and wilh the World Bank'sfinanclal support, in the northeaslern part of RondOnlaSIale II lied between lhe countles ot Arlquemes andJaru, 1II1lIIed by lhe geographical coordinates 61047'-63000' I ongilude West and 9019'-10°00' Latitude South(Figure 1)Mos! of lhe 2,090 km2 of the Project's area wer.dedrcated to subsislence agriculture and 10 smaU calanimal husbandry: 2.934 SO-hectar parcels distributed In4 blg seclions There were also 17 foresf reserves (680km2). one airport one main urban center and 10secondary urban centers.In 1988. when lhe former Colonization Project was turnedinlo lhe County of Machadinho d'Oeste, new areas wererncorporaled (4 olher colonlzallon projects and 8 urbancenters). growing from lhe initial 2.090 km2 to 11,800km2 The inilial population of 3,000 famílies also grew toover 44.000 inhabilants in 1991, from whlch 25% werelivrng in urban areas and 75% in rural areas.3.2 Equlpmcnts, hardware and .oftwarea11was used for Ihis work fhe version 2.4 of the ·SistemaGeográfico de Informações (SGI-340)", a Brazillan GISdeveloped by lhe National Instilule of Space Research(INPE)The basic digilal syslem included:• PC (cenlral processor 80486 - 16 bits, f10ating pointcoprocessor 80487), 180 Mbytes Hard Disk, 5.1/5- and3.S" Floppy Disk Drivers, 8Mbytes RAM, super VGAcolor monilor;• UVI-340 graphic board;• 1024x768 image visualization unit, 256 levels and 8bits/pixel;• AOdigitizing lablel;• A4 scanner:• color electroslatic plotter;• laser printer.JL'466· •+13RONDÔNIAMachadinho d'OesteCountyID~mzJMachadinho projectFigllre 1 location of Machadinho Cotonizatron Project and Maehadinho d'Oesle CountyThe following softwares were also used for wordprocessing, desktop publishing, eharts and gr;:tphicsconstruction: Microsoft Word 5.5, Quattro Pro 1.01,Xerox Ventura Pubflsher, Windows 3.0, DOS 5.0. Thedatabases were ma de with .DBase 111Plus and lhestatistical treatments with SAS and SOC ("SoftwareCientlfico" - EMBRAPAlNTIA).3.3 Cartographlc material and satelllte ImageryThe basis for ali maps generated Ihrough GIS was theINCRA map for the Machadinho ProJect, at lhe scale of1:100,000 (INCRA, 1985).Landsat images of different dates and scales were alsousadoLandsat MSS paper images:OrbitlPoint Date Bands Seale248167 Jun 18, 80 4 ;.250,000248167 Jun 18,80 5 1:250,000248167 Jun 18, 80 7 1:250,000Landsat TM5 paper imagesOrbit/Pornt Date 8ands Scale231/67 Aug 7, 85 2 1:250,000231/67 Aug 7, 85 3 1:250,000231/67 Aug 7, 85 4 1:250,000231/67 Jul 30,88 3 1:250,000231/67 Jul 30,88 4 1:250,000231/67 Jul 30,88 5 1:250,000231/67 Jul 30,88 3/4/5 1:250,000231/67 Aug 5,90 3/4/5 1:250,000231167(OA) Jul 30,88 3/4/5 1:100,000231/67(08) Jul 30,88 3/4/5 1:100,000231167(ON) Aug 5, 90 3/4/5 1:100,0004. METHODS4.1 Charac1erlzatlonof the exlstlng farmlng .yatem.In December 1986 and Seplember 1989, field surveyswere conducted on a random sample of 45% ofMachadinho d'Oeste's effectively occupled propertles.The farmers were interviewed and lhe structures andsystems of production were analised: 438 farms In 1986325and 489 in 1989. lhe same questlonnaires were used inboth years to collect the data, consisting of almost 200variables:• localion variables (12),• socioeconomical variables (83),• agronomical variables (30 for each one of the cropsand 14 for animal husbandry).lwo big numerical databases were generaled wilhDBase, one for 1986 and anolher for 1989 They wereused as slarting polnts for Ihl! work.The numencal data were digilized and slalisticallyIreated, generaling detailed agronomical andsocioeconomical profiles of lhe agriculturisls and theirsyslems of produclion (Miranda, 1987 and Miranda &Matlos. 1993)4.2 Deflnltlon of some Ind/cators of performance orefficiency of the systems of productlonAft~r characlerizing lhe main exisling syslems ofproc1uclion, an assessmenl of Iheir performances andsustamability was conducledThe rnelhodology for definitron of lhe mdicators ofperformance and suslainahility consisted of lhe followingslepsA . I )lscl/ssion and definiuon of lhe aspects Ihal shouldbe suslainable.11 - Irlf'nlificalion of lhe polenlial indicalors ofsustarnability for Ihese phenomena, based on lheavarlable data,C - Selection and evalualion of lhe indicalors to bequanlified, based on lhe existrnq data:D - Preliminary exploralion of lhe polenlial uses of lhemdrcators for differenl íypes of dischronlc andsynchronic analysis.In order 10 inilially classify the systems of productionpracuced in Machadinho, 10 indicators of agronomical,socroeconornical and environmental performances wereselecled or constructed based on the 200 variablesslored in the numerical data bases:1 levei and slabilily of maize productivity (kg/ha),2 levei and stabílity of rice productlvlty (kg/ha),3. levei and stability of beans productivity (kg/ha),4. value and stability of cultivated area per active personin lhe family (ha),5 value and stability of cultivated area per person in thefamíly (ha),6. value and stability of pasture area per active personin the family (ha),7. value and stability of pasture area per person in thef;,mily (ha),8. deforested area per active person In the family (ha),9. deforested area per person In the family (ha),10. percentage of the property deforested.It was considered as active person in the famlly thosefrom 5 to 60 years old, who were economlcallyproduc!ive in the farm. lhe deforested areas comprlsedcultivaled areas, pasture and second growth vegetationareas.4.3 Arrangement of the propertles b•• ed on tMefficlency of thelr ayatema of productlon, eccordlngto the pre-aelected and quantlfled Indlcator.For each one of the indicators, 355 farms were orderedaccording to their agricultural, labor, animal husbandryand environmental performancesConlingency tables were generated in order to mak afirsl selection of lhe farms lha! presented simultan slygood agronomical, socioeconomical and environmenlalperformances Wlth thls excluslvely numerlcal procedure,about 10% of lhe properties were selected as havinggood performances.lhese 36 farms were then revislted In 1993 to confirmIheir efficiency and to validate the selected indieators.4.4 Spatializatlon of the IImlt. and ela •• " o, lhesystems of productlon's efflcleney, through GISSimultaneously and complementarly to the numerlealanalysis and classlfication of the systems of productlon,GIS lechniques were used to map lhe studied verl bfes.indicalors, and generaled results.Thematlc maps of Machadlnho (solls, v etinfrastructure, hidrography ... ) were digitized at the eof 1:100,000 uslng the 8razllian GIS "SGI-, developed byNational Institute of Space Research (INPE).Using as reference the INCRA map for the parcela' limlts(INCRA, 1985), a digital cartographic database wagenerated at the scale of 1:100,000 (Figure 2), TheInput was carrled out wlth a keyboard and a dlgltlzlngtablel wilh 0.1 mm accuracy.lhis geocodified dalabase was reclasslfied accordlng othe numerical data from 1966 and 1969. Effectlvely, 118maps of the main numerícal indicators were thusgenerated for each study período But virtua"y, 8 greaternumber of maps are available through GIS.Each one of these maps was Ihen analysed as for theresults oblained in lhe prevlous phase of lhe wor1t Theobjeclive was to Identify any spatlal pattern that couldinfluence lhe distributlon of the sample, such as are •326------------------------------------_.~ - -Figure 2' Farrns' limils in Machadinho d'Oesle.with extremely fertile or unsuitable soil Iypes, drainagepatters, distance 10 urban cenlers, elc.Remote sensing technlques were also used for a preciseevaluatlon of the region's evolutíon. LandsaVTM5 andMSS Images were analogically interpreled in order 10characterize lhe land uses and Iheir recent spalialprogresslon.5. RESULTSAlmosf 200 maps such as figure 3 were generaled byGIS for each sludy period (1986 and 1989)Thanks to lhe use of GIS il was possible 10 constilulepre/iminary groups of farms wilh good performances,based on lhe Indicafors used. Conlingency lables weremade to cross differenf types of performance, groups ofproperti s, structures and ' periods of productíon(crosslngs were made both in one and two of the studyyears). Ouring Ihis analylical process of synlhesis,severa I essays were made, bolh numerical andcartographlcal, using GIS.A final analysis of the various arrangements of lhe farms,GIS maps, contingency fables and c/asses ofagronomical, socioeconomícal and environmenlalperformances allowed the identification of 5 groups ofgood-performance farms:Group 1: Properties wifh good agronomical performanceonly;Group 2: Properties with good agronomical and laborperformances, simultaneously;(groups 1 and 2 consist of properties wilh nolvery diversified syslems of production and Ihaldo not explore Iheir natural resourcesexcessively)Group 3: Properties wilh good agronomical, labor,environmenlal and animal husbandryperformances (usually Ihis group includespropertles wilh more diversified systems ofproduction, that cause more serlousenvironmenlal impacts Ihan Ihose of groups 1and 2);Group 4: Properties wilh good animal husbandryperformance, usually Iheir main activily;Group 5. Propertles with good performance of only oneisolaleJ cultivation syslem bul nof of ali theproduclion syslems.6. CONCLUSIONThe agriculture pracliced in the tropical rain forest Isextremely diverse and complex. To assess Itssustainabilily il is necessary to work with 8 large numberof agricultors, for 8 long period of time, and to use manyvarlables.The conslruction of a digllal cartographic dalabase for asample of 450 farmers in Machadinho d'Oesfe helped toassess the agriculturai sustainability of their systems ofproduction between 1989 and 1993:• it allowed to generate almost 200 maps for each studyperiod;• it guaranteed the study of the spatial distributionpatterns of the performance indicators;• it helped 10 Inlegrale lhe agronomlcal, socioeconomlcaland environmental varlables in geocodified databases,besides numerlcal onesThis work, thal already covers the periods of 1986. 1989and 1993, will be prolonged for more 10 years.327<,Studied Yanable.577% of the sarnplah;,v" r halnsawN! 5 KmL--J• Forest Reserves~ Rural Parcels• Urban CenterFiqure 3 Example of lhe mappino f studred vanables and indicators using GIS.7. BIBL IOGRAPHIC REFERENCESBaena, A 1<C . Outra, S, Kitamura, PC., 19A5 Efeito dediferentes sistemas de cultivos nas propnedades rlsicase produtividade do solo EM8RAPA-CPATU, 8elém, 22p(EMBRAP/\ CPATU Boletim de Pesquisa, 67)De Miranda. E E.: Maltos, C, 1992 Brazthan Ra.n forestColcnization and 8iodiversity Agriculture, Ecosystemsand Envrronrnent (Speciallssue). 40(1-4), pp 275-296En91e, r c, 19,4 Ground truthing in Rondõrua SouthAmerican Fxplorer, pp 16 21Homrno. /\ K O , 1993 EJ<trativismoAmazônia limites e oportunidadesSPI/r.PATI), Brasllia, 202pvegetal naEM8RAPA-INCRA. 1!l85. Carta de Parcelamento Geral do Projetode Assentamento Machadinho, Ariquemes e Jaru (RO).INCRA-Diretoria Regional do Estado de Rondônia, PortoVelho Escala 1 100000Mattos, C Miranda, E E , Young, M C.p. F-Ilardl, A.L,1990a. Agrlcultural colornzation impact on the tropicalrain Iorest the case of Machadinho Project (Rondõn.a -Brazu) In Intemational Symposium on Agroecology andConservatron Issues in Temperate and Tropical Regions,1990. Padova Abstracts. University of Padova, Padova,p.116Mattos, C , Scaramuzza, C.A. de M.; Miranda, E.E, de;Young, MC P , Godron, M., 1990b Desenvolvimento demodelo preditivo do impacto ambiental da atividadeagrlcola em projetos de colonização na Amazônia (ocaso de Machadinho-RO). In: Reunião Anual da SBPC,42, 1990 Porto Alegre. Anais (comunicações). Parma,São Paulo, v. 1, pp.355-356.Mtranda, E E de, 1967. RondOnia - a terra do mito e omito da terra Os colonos do Projeto Machadinho.EM8RAPA-CNPOA, Campinas, 175p.Miranda, E.E. de, Mattos, C., 1992. Impacto amblentalda pequena agricultura na floresta tropical de Rondõni.,In: Reunião Anual da SBPC. 44. 1992. SAo Paulo. Anais(comunicações). S8PC, São Paulo, p.654.Mtranda, E.E. de; Mattos, C,. 1993. De colonos arnunícipes na floresta tropical de RondOnla - Machadlnhod'Oeste. ECOFORÇAlEM8RAPA-NMA, Campinas, 154p.Miranda, E.E. de; Mattos, C.; Miranda. J.I.; Cabral, R.,1989. Moduladon dei impacto ambiental de Iasactividades agricolas en floresta tropical humeda(Machadinho - RondOnia). In: Congreso latinoAmericano de Ecologia, 1, 1989, Montevldeo.Resúmenes. CIPFE, Montevideo, p.129.Teixeua, l.B., 1969. Matéria orgânica nos ecossistemasde florestas primária e pastagem na AmazOnia Central.EM8RAPA-CPATU, 8elém, 26p. (EMBRAPA-CPATU,Boletim de Pesquisa, 99).328

The use of GIS to assess the agricultural sustainability in tropical rain florests.

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