Cerrado: Agricultural Production and Areas Designated for Environmental Preservation Registered in the Brazilian Rural Environmental Registry (Cadastro Ambiental Rural)

Abstract

In this study, authors analyzed value, production and area used for producing Cerrado?s main agricultural products, and data on the farms located within this biome and registered in CAR up until April 2019, by microregion. The territory considered here comprised all microregions with at least 25% of its area covered by the Cerrado biome. The production, agricultural production, and planted area values used were the averages of the 2015 to 2017 harvests, and are shown in graphs and tables, as are maps of planted areas and groups of main annual crops, semi-perennial and perennial crops. The areas designated for environmental preservation (ADPs) are the result of the sum of permanent preservation areas (APP), legal reserves (RL) and additional vegetation areas within the farms. Authors? study shows that most of Brazilian cotton, eucalyptus for charcoal, orange, sugarcane, maize and soybean are produced in Cerrado, that 28% of Cerrado are ADPs within farms, and that 16% are areas planted with cotton, eucalyptus, orange, sugarcane, maize, soybean, coffee, beans, and potatoes. The territory occupied by agricultural areas and ADPs required by the Brazilian Forest Code shows that agricultural production and environmental preservation do coexist, and gather the maintenance of essential ecosystem services provided by the ADPs together with the development of the country?s relevant agricultural production.