Slash-and-burn agriculture in southern Brazil: characteristics, food production and prospects

There is a shortage of studies about slash-and-burn in well-established agricultural systems and its importance for improving food production and enhancing biodiversity and agricultural diversity in the tropics and sub-tropics. A long and important tradition of slash-and-burn in black bean (Phaseolus vulgarisL.) production persists in the Prudentopolis municipality in southern Brazil. This agricultural system is practised over hilly terrain with shallow soil. In addition, mountainous areas prevent agricultural modernization, ensuring the persistence of this farming technique. Using an official dataset of bean production and semi-structured interviews with farmers and agricultural experts, the paper investigates slash-and-burn characteristics in a consolidated agricultural region and assesses the prospects for its persistence. The slash-and-burn system, intended mainly for bean crops, corresponds to 30% of the total bean yield in Prudentopolis. Slash-and-burn agriculture has a vital role to play for local food production and a sustainable eco-system. Therefore, a demographic and land-use transition might be experienced in this region and in similar regions in the tropics, with social and environmental implications for food production, land use dynamics and rural migration and development.