Seed bank of green manures

Abstract

The green manure is a farming practice has been used for more than 2,000 years by Chinese, Greeks and Romans, to increase the production of crops. The technological and environmental point of view, the practice contributes to the protection of the soil against erosion and solar radiation, allowing increasing your organic matter content. Promotes, also, unpacking, structuring and aeration of the soil, resulting in the increased storage capacity of water and nutrients. In Brazil, the first studies were carried out in the Instituto Agronômico (IAC), in the State of São Paulo, being many positive results in this State, however, it is noteworthy that there are no recommended use appropriate for the Northeast region. Companies that work with legumes have as reference only the Southeast, South and Midwest. The green manure can contribute to the reduction of production cost and decrease dependence on external inputs, but it is necessary to research actions for validation of these technologies to the conditions of the region. This is reflected in the agricultural production units, where farmers face difficulties to adjust the use of green manures in their production systems. Among the main obstacles to the use of green manure in Brazil has been the low availability of information regarding features, benefits and forms of use, mainly for family farmers, but specifically in the Northeastern's case, the lack of propagative material has been a challenge, what justified the implementation of the "seed bank" to ameliorate this situation.