Diagnóstico participativo sobre sistemas Agroflorestais e possibilidades de uso de frutos do Cerrado em um assentamento de Minas Gerais, Brasil

Abstract

The Cerrado Biome is the second largest Brazilian biome and considered one of the most important global “biodiversity hotspots”. However, it has the lowest level of protection, requiring urgent measures for its conservation. The use of Agroforestry Systems (SAF) contributes in several aspects to the sustainable development of rural communities, from the recovery of degraded areas to food security, maintaining local biodiversity by avoiding deforestation, generating income for family farming and enabling the creation of short marketing chains and insertion in emerging consumer markets, such as organic products. The Dom José Mauro Settlement Association in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais (MG) encourages agroecological and community production with a specific number of properties that already use SAF, and farmers intending to implement this system on their properties. The objective of this work was to diagnose the contribution of SAF’s and the potential for production, use and commercialization of native fruits from the cerrado in agroforestry systems in the settlement. The methodology used included a bibliographic survey on the topics covered, field data collection through interviews and a participatory workshop on Agroforestry Systems and the use of native fruits with farmers, using Participatory Rural Diagnosis (DRP) tools. It was possible to identify in the community the aptitude and availability for creating a chain of native fruits from the cerrado in different agroforestry systems, due to the great biodiversity and availability of farmers existing in the SAF's already implemented. In its implementation, the biggest difficulty encountered was the lack of seedlings, knowledge and technical assistance, which was not an impediment to the implementation and satisfaction with the SAF. In the community context, it was possible to evaluate the existing underutilized infrastructure, natural resources, the presence of native species, the diversity of products, the availability of material equipment and the proximity of the consumer market, as well as interpersonal relationships, as these were the most emphasized aspects. Therefore, for community development to occur and the possibility of using native fruits from the Cerrado to generate income through the bioeconomy, guiding guidance is necessary, through actions aimed at strengthening human relationships within the community and encouraging so that practical actions can be carried out collectively, taking planting and management efforts as an example.