Evaluation Participative evaluation of soil quality in an agroecosystem in agroecological transition in the Brejo Paraibano

Abstract

The evaluation of soil quality with the participation of farmers is an indispensable strategy for sustainable agricultural planning, enabling the identification and improvement of management systems with characteristics of high productivity and environmental preservation. Visual evaluation methods performed directly in the field have several advantages because they are accessible, inexpensive, and because they use simplified tools. The objective of this work was to evaluate, through participatory methodologies, soil quality indicators in an agroecosystem undergoing an agroecological transition process located in the Brejo region of Paraíba. The indicators evaluated were: Declivity; Structure; Compression; Erosion; Biological activity; and Organic matter, both applied in two subsystems (garden and orchard) and Mata ecosystem as a control. Descriptive approaches of the sustainability averages of three treatments, six variables and three replications were carried out. As a result, the Horta subsystem achieved a better average value, followed by Mata and the Roça subsystem according to the variables used in the field. The evaluation of the indicators contribute to measuring and observing the level of sustainability of a system, providing reflections among the farming families about the measures that can be taken towards the sustainable management of the soils.