Valor da polinização e influência da paisagem na produção de café arábica no Brasil

Abstract

Anthropic actions have already reached practically all ecosystems and agricultural expansion is mainly responsible for the fragmentation and deforestation of natural areas, affecting ecosystem services that offer a variety of benefits for agriculture, such as pollination and natural enemies. Arabica coffee is cultivated in landscapes with high diversity, but fragmented, and this high diversity benefits the production and quality of coffee by with biotic pollination. This affects the income of the producer and consequently the economy of the country as the agricultural market sets different prices according to the quality of the product. In this dissertation, we had as main objective to evaluate the economic value of pollination in coffee production and factores of the agricultural area that interfere on this service, such as the cultivation system and the landscape. Firstly, we assessed: (i) the contribution of biotic pollination to coffee production and quality; and (ii) the economic value of this contribution by comparing two types of management systems - organic and conventional. For this, we assessed the increase in pollination, the economic value of production and profitability per hectare, and the quality of the coffee. The results showed that pollination increases coffee production and that this increase is 57% higher in the organic management system. The profit was positively influenced by pollination, especially in organic management, and profit was tripled with the pollination service, with an additional approximately R$ 10,000 of profitable per hectare cultivated coffee. Organic cultivation with biotic pollination is able to equalize or exceed productivity compared to conventional cultivation area, which needed biotic pollination to obtain more stable production and profit. As for the quality of the coffee, the results did not show substantial differences between the quality of the drink in the presence and absence of pollinators. Then, we assessed (i) the influence of the percentage of natural area on the yield per hectare of coffee and (ii) the influence of the landscape heterogeneity on the yield (per hectare of coffee). For this, arabic coffee yield data in kilograms per hectare from Brazilian coffee producing municipalities and data of land use and cover were obtained from databases. The percentage of natural area had a positive effect on coffee yield, and the maximum value was reached at 22% of native area in the landscape. The heterogeneity of the landscape also showed a positive influence on yield. The present work contributed to the knowledge of the role of pollinators in the yield of coffee production. We concluded that pollination increases coffee production, increasing the profit of the rural producer, but for that it is required sustainable management practices and a heterogeneous landscape together with the conservation of natural areas.