Research carried out by Embrapa, with the support of Fundecitrus and financed by Innocent Drink, shows that Brazil’s Citrus Belt is abundant in wildlife and carbon.
WILD ANIMALS
The research identified more than 300 species of wild animals in the Citrus Belt of São Paulo and Triângulo/Southwest Mineiro. Mainly, birds and mammals were found circulating or living in production environments on orange-producing farms.
Embrapa Territorial researcher José Roberto Miranda, who led the work, said citrus farming is promoting fauna biodiversity and coexisting very well with it.
“Wildlife can explore many things within an agricultural system, especially in an arboreal system, such as citrus farming, which offers places to build nests,” Miranda said. “Furthermore, several species feed on oranges, without this becoming a detriment to the farmer.”
Fundecitrus General Manager Juliano Ayres said encouraging sustainable management and maintenance of the citrus production chain, along with preservation of natural resources, “are essential and indispensable practices, not only for fauna but for the ecosystem as a whole.”
CARBON STORAGE
The same research work estimated the capacity of the Citrus Belt to store carbon in orange trees, in the soil and in areas of native vegetation. According to the study, there are 36 million tons of carbon present in a territory of 560,000 hectares. In orchards alone, there are 8.2 million tons of carbon.
The survey of carbon stocks in the environmental preservation areas of the farms used data from the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. The 36 million tons of carbon stored in the soil and in the production and preservation areas of the Citrus Belt are equivalent to 133 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂).
“When we talk about climate change, we think a lot about CO₂, one of the main causes of the greenhouse effect,” said researcher Lauro Nogueira Júnior from Embrapa Territorial. “It turns into carbon when it is absorbed by plants and incorporated into soil and biomass. This is a way for citrus producers to contribute to mitigating climate change. Our work consisted of measuring how this contribution to carbon stocks is made.”
For the coordinator of Fundecitrus’ harvest estimation research, Vinícius Trombin, the sustainable role played by citrus farming is nothing new. “Citrus farming has always been associated with the preservation of natural resources and their positive integration into the environment,” Trombin said. “However, there was a lack of concrete data to support this knowledge. What was once just empirical knowledge of producers is now based on scientific data.”
Source: Fundecitrus
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