Abstract
The present essay is meant to provide some background on the evolution of the soil science community in Brazil, since its inception, to describe its current situation, and to outline a number of opportunities and challenges facing the discipline in decades to come. The origin of Brazilian agronomy dates back to the beginning of the 19th century as a subdiscipline of botany, and its association with chemistry would later establish it as a science. In the middle of the 19th century, agricultural chemistry was born as a result of this association, leading to the establishment of edaphology, a branch of Soil Science. Another branch of Soil Science, known as pedology, was established as an applied and scientific knowledge in Brazil during the middle of the 20th century. During the same period, the Brazilian Soil Science Society (SBCS) was created, merging the knowledge of both branches and gathering all scientists involved. Twenty years after the SBCS foundation, the creation of Graduate Programs made Brazilian Soil Science enter the modern era, generating crucial knowledge to reach the current levels of agricultural productivity. Part of a community composed of 25 Soil Departments, 15 Graduate Programs and a great number of institutions that promote research and technology transfer, Brazilian soil scientists are responsible for developing solutions for sustainable development, by generating, adapting and transferring technology to the benefit of the country. The knowledge produced by SBCS members has been particularly significant for Brazil to achieve the status of most competitive tropical agriculture in the world. In the future decades, Soil Science will still remain topical in discussions regarding environment care and production of food and fibers, in addition, it will be essential and strategic for certain issues, such as water quality, reducing poverty and development of renewable sources of energy.
Highlights
This essay is meant to provide some background on the evolution of the soil science community in Brazil, since its inception, to describe its current situation, and to outline a number of opportunities and challenges facing the discipline in decades to come
The history of Brazilian Soil Science over the past 200 years is briefly reviewed, highlighting the origins of Science and Soil Science in Brazil, we describe the current background under which Brazilian soil scientists frame their work, and we try to outline what is in store for the broad community of soil scientists in one of the largest agricultural area of the world
The idea was widely discussed in February 1947 at the Fifth Brazilian Congress of Chemistry, in Porto Alegre, where participants scheduled a new meeting for the creation of the Brazilian Soil Science Society
Summary
The present essay is meant to provide some background on the evolution of the soil science community in Brazil, since its inception, to describe its current situation, and to outline a number of opportunities and challenges facing the discipline in decades to come. In the middle of the 19th century, agricultural chemistry was born as a result of this association, leading to the establishment of edaphology, a branch of Soil Science. Twenty years after the SBCS foundation, the creation of Graduate Programs made Brazilian Soil Science enter the modern era, generating crucial knowledge to reach the current levels of agricultural productivity. O outro ramo da Ciência do Solo (pedologia) consolidou-se como conhecimento científico e foi aplicado no País em meados do século XX. Com a criação dos programas de pós-graduação, 20 anos depois de fundada a SBCS, a Ciência do Solo brasileira entrou na era da modernidade, e o conhecimento gerado foi fundamental para que o País atingisse o patamar atual de produtividade agrícola. Termos de indexação: edafologia, pedologia, Sociedade Brasileira de Ciência do Solo, retrospectivas e perspectivas
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