Agroforestry the future of agriculture for our planet

We started our first agroforestry experiment in 2017. Today in 2023 we have planted 1 hectare of agroforestry. We still have 23 hectares available :). We expand only when we feel the area we implemented is well-taken care of and low in maintenance. We have now implemented 5 agroforestry systems (SAF 1 -5). Our latest agroforestry system is much better than our first as we learn through training and observation. Mother nature is an incredible teacher if you have the patience to observe and see the reaction of our actions in the systems. We offer people a real immersion by managing these agroforestry systems, planting new lines and compare systems planted with only a few week with systems that 1,2,3 and 4 years old.

When we expand we take a plot of land and build a fence around the area so the cows cannot invade  it. Then we initiate the process of ploughing the top layer to add air and allow the rain and roots to penetrate the soil. We add some limestone powder to make the acid soil more alkaline. We than add natural fertilizers including cow manure (nitrogen), bone powder (phosphorus) and Yourin a type of mineral combination including rock powder (Phosphorus, calcium, Magnesium, silicium and micronutrients). Then we make the beds, cover the beds with biomass up to 30 cm.

We start to plant the placenta that will form the ideal environment for our future trees to develop. For the placenta we use plants that help to structure the soil, create shade, biomass, fixate nitrogen and minerals. We plant pork beans, marmon, banana trees, eucalyptus trees, mulberry, cassava, inhame, taioba, turmeric and ginger. Then we plant secondary trees that will stay in the system for a few decades including native mata atlantica trees like manaca branca, aroeira, quaresmera, sobrasil, fedegosa, urucum. in the group we also plant fruit trees like citric, pear, caqui, guayaba, peach, avocado, jamelão, inga. In our system we also plant 2 type of hard wood trees that we use to produce hard wood for our bioconstruction. We use African mahogany and Australian cedro. Finaly we plant slow growing hard wood trees that can stay hundreds of years that will form the Climax of the forest. We plant trees such as yellow Ipe, Pink Ipe, Purple Ipe, Green Ipe, Jacaranda, Jetiquiba, Pau Ferro, Rochinha.  After 2 years we plant our  queen plant coffee which is explained in the next paragraph. We end with covering the beds with up to 30 cm of biomass. This to protect the soil from the sun, rain so life can flourish below the soil and plants are well protected.

One of the main goals of our farm is to spread agroforestry in the region. To  convince other farmers we need a high profitable product that is more lucrative than what the farmers are currently cultivating. After analysing the climate and market for products, we have decided to focus on coffee tree cultivation within agroforestry systems. The idea is to sell “special organic coffee” which has currently a high market prices and expectations is that coffee prices will continue to increase due to the increasing prices for fertilizers and consequences of climate change. On top the climate in the mountain region is ideal for coffee production and has already proven to be successful in other regions. Especially with global warming our region is even better appropriated for coffee production as the cooler temperatures here are better than some traditional regions where rising temperatures are creating a thread for the coffee farmers. Researchers from the agriculture department at the Federal University of Lavras (Ufla) say that increasing temperatures and droughts have a negative impact on coffee production and will lead to large losses for producers in the future. At Eco Caminhos we will process the coffee to final product to add value. Our goal is to expand this system to 7 hectares of coffee, with 3 hectares being the minimum required for profitable coffee production. We are currently experimenting with 3 types of Arabic coffee: Araras (yellow), Catucai Amarelo (yellow) and Catucai Vermelho (Red).

So we have been experimenting with different systems to create the ideal environment for the coffee. We have participated in courses around the country on agroforestry and coffee planting. We also have done our own research. Now we are planting in 2 techniques. Coffee in the treeline mixed with other trees. the other technique is planting coffee trees dense between the tree lines (see right drawing). This to reach a higher productivity to make these type of plantations economically viable. We have now planted more or less 1500 coffee trees in these different systems. For the coffee trees that are planted in the treelines it is easier to reach the desired level of shade for the coffee tree at an early stage. This is much more difficult when we plant the coffee in between the tree lines as is illustrated in the design on the right. It takes about 4-5 years to reach a level of shade in the tree lines that are ideal for the coffee trees. At the same time we cannot allow the placenta trees to overshadow the smaller native trees in the first years. Trees like eucalyptus and banana trees will leave the system in about 10 years. We need to guarantee that coffee will have an ideal climax forest in the future. These climax trees need frequent pruning of the fast growing plants and trees to obtain enough light and biomass to form the ideal soil. For the coffee planted in between this causes a lot of stress as they are exposed to much more sun than desired. So we plant a combination of plants (placenta) between the coffee trees such as cassava, Marmon, mulberry, pau tabaqueira, junteira, inhame, curcuma and pig beans to create a nice environment for the coffee trees which create shadow in a couple of weeks. We prune these plants on a hight that they create the right shade for the coffee but do not overshadow the trees in the treelines. We further plant the palmita juçara a protected palm tree that produces açai. This palm is of the same cycle as coffee and will also produce a valuable product “açai”. Another technique we use now is to plant Mombasa grass in between the coffee lines. In the past we had to weed every time we maintained the systems resulting in a lot of work and some erosion. Ernst Götsch recommends the Mombasa grass as it produces incredible amounts of biomass, does well in some shadow unlike most other grasses and it does not spread its roots. By cutting it just before flowering the Mombasa also sends hormone signals of growth to the entire system.

Maintenance of agroforestry systems can be a bit shocking for newcomers. But it is essential to creating abundant forests and the most labour intensive job in agroforestry systems. At Eco Caminhos we spend approximately 10% of time planting. 90% of time is maintenance. Ernst Götsch who transformed a 200 hectare degraded property into an abundant forest with restored water sources and creeks teaches these practises to his followers. He explains that in natural forest large and smaller animals, insects, storms, trees collapsing create the necessary cycles in the forest for it to develop. Pruning allows rays of light into the forrest so new trees can develop. The branches, trunks and leaves cover the soil with biomass and create the necessary food for the plants and fungi to create the mycorrhiza. Also because we plant extremely dense we need to prune, prune and prune to make sure there is enough light for the trees that will form the climax of the forest to develop. If we do nothing to our system our agroforest will stagnate and can turn into a forest dominated by some of the fast growing trees we planted densely in the placenta such as eucalyptus and bananas. So lets take you through the steps we practise in maintaining an agroforestry system

1.       Cutting Mombasa grass

In case we enter a system where there is still grass or planted Mombasa grass has developed we start with cutting this grass with a grass cutter. We want this grass cutter to be sharp and cut the grass at the right height. For example Mombasa grass likes to be cut higher than braciaria grass as it will sprout back easier. A sharp blade is needed for a clean cut. Well cut grass will stimulate

2.       Selective weeding

Once oft the most essential job in agroforestry especially in the first years of the development of the forest is selective weeding. We need to take out short cycle spontaneous weeds as these weeds consume some of the nutrients and because once these plants end their short-cycle will give signals to system that will stagnate growth. The selective weeding is one of the jobs where you can see who really wants to become an agroforestry specialist or not. A lot of people do not enjoy the weeding and often skip this part. This can seriously affect the development of your system. This because once you cover the weeds with the pruned material you are actually feeding the weeds causing a serious stagnation in your system. The longer we work with agroforestry the more precise we weed.

3.       Reading the system and Pruning

Before pruning we need to understand what to prune, why and how. This is difficult to explain in a few lines. We need to understand the stratification of the forest. Stratification means the quantity of light each plant wants. There is only a very small percentage of trees that like to be in the full sunlight. All other trees like some shading to a lot of shading. We are now working 7 years with agroforestry and still learning every day. We are now pruning more radically than we did in the beginning as we notice that the slow growing climax trees in the system require more light to develop. Pruning itself requires good knowledge of the trees in the system. Each tree has its preferred pruning style. Another important aspect is good tools, safety and patience.

4.       Ordering the pruned materials around the trees

Ordering material is not a random task. It requires order such as all tasks in agroforestry. We like to say that to become a good agroforestry farmer it requires us to understand our role in the system. You do not see any animal leaving a mess behind him. It is important to put more dense material in direct contact with the soil. Wood is the gold for agroforestry as it will decompose in rich compost for the trees and will create the mycorrhiza. Next is covering these trunks with leaves, grass and weeds that do not sprout back. There are some weeds we can not reuse as biomass because they will resprout. We compost those at specific piles.

 

5.       (Re)planting (if needed)

Every time we have maintained a system it gives you a really good view of the stratification of the system. All trees, bushes and plants are at the right layer. It is now easier to identify what is missing in the system. The further a system develops the more difficult it is to replant. Except for the lower layers of the forest as these plants/trees develop well with limited light. A good example is our coffee tree we usually only plant 2 years after we have planted the other trees.

 

6.       Irrigation system

Once the entire system is maintained we make sure the irrigation system is placed back right unless the system does not need any irrigation anymore.

 

7. frequence of maintenance.

The frequency of maintenance of the systems depends more on our time. The more time we have the more frequent we like to go through the systems. In reality with 1 hectare we are able to maintain the entire system twice a year. We expand as soon as we have control over the entire system. We have learned by error of implementing too large systems. Since we do not manage to maintain the systems frequent enough the systems stagnate.

At Eco Caminhos one of our main goals is to become fully self-sustainable in food and building materials. Today we manage to produce around 60% of our food. We produce a width variety of vegetables, fruits, milk, eggs and meat on our farm. The first goal is to feed the people who live and work on the farm well. Abundance can be sold or donated to the community. We believe that we stand out in the fact that we really want to become self-sustaining. Too often projects stick to talking about permaculture, agroforestry and bioconstruction. But if we really want to make a transformation we need practise what we teach.

Our lunch today is prepared with mainly ingredients from the farm. This is something we want to increase to 3 meals per day.  At this moment volunteer, apprentices and workers have the opportunity to take home vegetables and fruits from the farm. Harvesting also requires skills and we teach people how to properly harvest every product.

Agroforestry will need no more irrigation after 2-3 years once the trees have rooted sufficiently, there is plenty of biomass to cover the beds and the layers of the forest are properly ordered. As Ernst Götsch says “we plant water with planting forests”. Not the other way around. It is also important that we create resilient trees against draughts by having them find water deep and not water them to much so roots stick around the surface. But for the first 2-3 years we need to water. And for the coffee trees with mumbassa grass we need some irrigation for the first 2 dry winters. So usually we have irrigation up to 4-5 years in the system. Once the coffee develops we will only water in extreme draughts.

We use 2 type of irrigation systems. For the placenta and initial plantation of mumbassa grass and coffee we like to use the santena tubes who water the plants by throwing some ray of water on top of the plants. Now once the trees and coffee develop the santena tubes become less efficient as the trees block the spreading of the water. We than switch the hoses for a dripping tubes. Where santena tubes usually water the lines well in 10-15 minutes the dripping tubes we sometimes turn on for a few hours so the water can sink into the bottom.

Our field is located on the outer mountains of Nova Friburgo and will benefit from the steep terrain by using gravity for the irrigation system. This removes the need for water pumps.