THE RENOVATION OF CATTLE PASTURE BY FAMILY FARMERS : THE CASE OF SANTA MARIA IN THE AMAZON REGION, STATE OF PARÁ

Abstract

The advance of the pioneer front in the Amazon region has led to the substitution of the primary forest by cattle pasture characterized at present by loss of productive capacity (degradation). In the mid-term, such a problem may induce the families to leave their lands and migrate. Over the last twenty years, the family farmers of Santa Maria have reacted by successively introducing four graminae. Andropogon gayanus was the last one to be planted when no significant results were being yielded by the other fodder plants. We have tried to understand the conditions of success of this technical innovation through an interdisciplinary approach aiming at studying the agroecological development of A. gayanus, the way it is perceived by the local community and the spreading of such an innovation. Introduced by a single farmer and gradually adopted by all the others, Andropogon gayanus presents various advantages: it produces a high above-ground biomass, it is resistant to predatory insects and, in a system where the pressure caused by cattle raising is low, it competes successfully with weeds. In the study of local categorization of the environment, A. gayanus, is compared to mato plants considered to be more resistant than the usual fodder plants. The characterization of the spreading modes of this new grass shows that the success of the innovation depends both on its capacity to solve problems and on what it actually means for the farmers in social terms.