Contexto, (agricultura e interação no agroecossistema, familiar do caju no semiárido brasileiro

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to characterize and analyze the differentiation of cashew family agroecosystems in the Sertão do Apodi territory, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, under an agroecological perspective. In the case study, conducted in 2006, the agroecosystem analysis was taken as methodological basis, complemented with techniques of Participatory Rural Appraisal. Five NGOs and farmers of ten communities and agrarian reform settlements, of five municipalities, attended the research. A characterization of the socioeconomic context at Apodi territory, communities and settlements was held, and a typology of cashew family agroecosystem was established. In agronomic and ecological terms, it can be defined as agrosilvopastoral. In the social and economic dimensions, it is a low-input and multiple purpose agroecosystem, adapted to the strategies of family farming. The analysis indicates that the cashew agrosilvopastoral system is close to the traditional modes of production and suggests that the experiences of organic farming under way in the Territory can be expanded among farmers if linked to improvement of their income. Priorities have been set for sustainability of the agroecosystem, the community and settlement, and the territory. However, there is still much to research and learn to establish causal and functional relationships between the different levels of socioenvironmental aggregation and between the different dimensions of life.