Potencial para mecanização agrícola da Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Grande - MG

Abstract

This work was carried out based on soil data from the Exploratory Soil Survey of the State of Minas Gerais, and aimed to use geoprocessing techniques to map areas suitable for mechanization due to the main limiting factors for agricultural soil mechanization, in order to provide subsidies the agricultural management of areas around the Rio Grande basin in Minas Gerais. The Minas Gerais side of the Rio Grande Hydrographic Basin (BHRG) covers five important mesoregions of the state of Minas Gerais, south and southwest of Minas, Minas Triangle and Alto do Parnaíba, west of Minas, Campo das Slopes and Zona da Mata. The southern and southwestern regions of Minas, the mining triangle and the upper Parnaíba region account for more than 50% of the agricultural production in the state of Minas. Thus, the socioeconomic importance of agricultural activities developed in the Rio Grande River Basin is notorious, more specifically, in the Triângulo Mineiro and south and southwest regions of Minas stands out as one of the main regions of national agribusiness, with emphasis on the following products: sugar cane, soy, corn, coffee, orange and cattle raising, both beef and dairy. The spatialized maps, with the soil factors limiting agricultural mechanization, were obtained through the interpretation of the characteristics of the different classes of soils found in the Exploratory Survey-Recognition of Soils in the State of Minas Gerais. This classification was carried out through the interpretation of the characteristics of the soil classes observed in the study area and framing in relation to the limiting factors to agricultural mechanization: stoniness, effective depth, texture, drainage and slope. The maps with the quantitative information of these five limiting factors described were combined by cross-tabulation (with equal weights) to result in the general map of classes of impairment to mechanization. The results showed that in 1.42% of the area there is no impediment to mechanization; 66.59% with mild impairment; 13.11% with moderate impairment; 3.13% with strong impediment and 15.75% of the area with very strong impediment to mechanization. The survey showed that the slope is the most prevalent impediment factor to mechanization in the area of the Rio Grande-MG Basin area, presenting the highest rate of limitation among all the analyzed factors. The study constitutes an essential tool for regional development, providing information of fundamental importance for the elaboration of diagnoses for the use, agricultural management and conservation of lands in the Rio Grande-MG hydrographic basin.