Refazenda Morada Agroecológica

An Agroforestry Experience in a Backyard of an University Students Country House, in Araras, SP

Abstract

Refazenda Morada Agroecológica is a rural house of students of Agroecology of UFSCar, in Araras, SP, which occupies an area of ​​5.000m² and is surrounded by the conventional sugar cane culture. In 2011, when it was founded, its inhabitants began to cultivate the backyard, degraded by the planting of sugarcane, using large amounts of green manure consortiated with food crops and trees. Over the years, people who graduated left the house and their places were occupied by people who entered the university and chose to live in the countryside. The same way, the people who take care of the backyard of the house were replaced. The works done were ruled by the main agroforestry principles: organic cultivation, use of organic matter for fertilization, consortium of agronomic and arboreal species, use of green manuring, stratification, etc. This work aims to describe the harvests that were carried out in a period of 2 years and 7 months, from photographic records made between January 2016 and July 2018 of most of the harvests obtained. The result obtained in this work, through the quantification of what was produced in this period of time, serves to support arguments about the benefits of producing food at home: reduction of food expenses, greater consumption of organic, free of chemicals and fresh food - and all the benefits it brings - and also the consolidation of theoretical knowledge obtained in the classroom. A total of 46 products with 43 food species were harvested during this period.