Integrated Natural Resource Management Practices

• Systems and costs of production for Brazilian farming systems
  The objective of this study is to characterize the predominant farming and extractive systems, as well as those recommended by researchers, of the main productive agro-ecological zones of the Eastern Amazon, with special emphasis on costs, technical capacity and limiting factors. Amazon region: Acre, Brazil. (Project leader: Jair Carvalho dos Santos).
  
  
• Brazil Nut (Bertholletia excelsa) quality improvement in the Western Brazilian Amazon
  This research aims to identify microbiological and chemical contamination points in the Brazil Nut production chain, and to define the existing micro-biota in the raw material (from collection to storage), identifying the micro-organisms and chemicals responsible for sanitary quality (in particular, aflatoxin and the coliform group). Amazon region: Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve in Brasiléia (AMOREB), Brazil. (Project leaders: Joana Maria Leite de Souza and Cleísa Brasil da Cunha Cartaxo).
  
  
• Characterization of organic milk production systems in the Eastern Amazon
  Milk production, reproduction, animal sanitary control, forage availability and soil-plant relations are being evaluated to compare organic and conventional systems. Funding: Embrapa. Amazon region: Rondônia, Brazil. (Project leader: Joăo Paulo Guimarăes Soares).
  
  
• Secondary forests and fallow vegetation in the Eastern Amazon - function and management
  The objectives of this project are to develop technologies to improve those parts of the traditional shifting cultivation system that are most adverse to productivity and harmful to the environment, e.g., land preparation and fallow length; to develop a prototype bush chopper and/or adapt commercially available alternatives; and to develop agronomic recommendations for the correct and effective use of mulch-based cropping systems, including fallow enrichment. Amazon region: Eastern Pará state and Bragantina region, Brazil. (Project leader: Tatiana Sá).
  
  
• Agroforestry systems in Machadinho d'oeste and Rondônia - biophysical and economic parameter evaluation
  The objective of this project is to study agroforestry systems in Rondônia, taking into account existing interactions among species related to economic, ecological and productive aspects. Amazon region: Machadinho d'Oeste and Rondônia, Brazil. (Project leader: Marilia Locatelli).