A percepção de agricultores familiares sobre indicadores da qualidade do solo em comunidades da zona rural de São Luís - MA)

Abstract

Increasing production in agricultural systems requires a lot of understanding of how farmers develop and use their knowledge about local soil types and bioindicators of soil quality, such as insights into plant species and macrofauna. Farmers' knowledge of the soil is the result of years of coexistence with agricultural activity and has allowed them to collaborate with ethnopedology, which is therefore fundamental in the construction of this important Science. Thus, the objective of this research was to relate farmers' practices and perceptions about soil quality and production in their cultivation areas in the southeast of São Luís-MA. Information on farmers' knowledge was obtained mainly through interviews, when a semi-structured questionnaire was applied to 62 farmers (32 men and 30 women), with 18 open and/or closed questions, about local soil types, indicators of soil quality, insights into plant species for identification, soil macrofauna, the influence of fire and other management practices in the agricultural system. About the hypothesis raised: Farmers' perception of soil quality influences their production. The results demonstrated that farmers use local soil types and soil quality bioindicators to improve their production, such as soil macrofauna and plants, considered the most important bioindicator, as they are well described by them. Manihot esculenta (cassava) and Zea mays (corn) were the ethnospecies that presented the highest Use Value and the highest production averages in kilograms per square meter. However, some farmers, as they no longer have physical strength or employees, do not achieve productive satisfaction, even though they have good knowledge