Lucimar Santiago de Abreu

Environmental assessment of organic juice imported to Denmark: a case study on oranges ( Citrus sinensis ) from Brazil

Growing global trade with organic products has given rise to a debate on the environmental impacts during both production and transport. Environmental hotspots of organic orange juice produced by smallholders in Brazil, processed and imported to Denmark, were identified in a case study using a life cycle approach. Furthermore, small-scale organic orange production was compared with small-scale conventional and large-scale organic orange production in the case study area in Brazil. Transport was the main contributor (58%) to the global warming potential of organic orange juice from small-scale farmers imported to Denmark, followed by the farm stage (23%), especially the truck transport of fresh oranges in Brazil and of reconstituted orange juice in Europe. Non-renewable energy use per hectare was significantly lower on the organic small-scale farms than on the conventional, with a similar pattern for global warming potential and eutrophication. Including soil carbon sequestration in organic plantations widened the difference in global warming potential between organic and conventional. Organic small-scale farms had a higher crop diversity than conventional, which may have a positive effect on biodiversity along with the spontaneous vegetation between the organic orange trees and the absence of toxic pesticides. Comparing small-scale with large-scale organic orange production, crop diversity was higher on the small-scale farms, while global warming potential, eutrophication potential and the use of copper per hectare were significantly lower, indicating that environmental impacts from small-scale differ from large-scale organic farms.

Organic farm conventionalisation and farmer practices in China, Brazil and Egypt

Certified organic agriculture stipulates a range of principles and standards, which govern farmer practices. The recent global expansion of organic agriculture has raised new challenges for organic agriculture, particularly whether management practices in organic farms are subject to the forces of conventionalisation. We studied changes in agroecological practices in certified organic farms in China, Brazil and Egypt. The study takes departure in the conventionalisation hypothesis and the analysis is framed using organic and agroecological principles. The study focuses on agroecological design principles, inherent to organic agriculture, of diversity in crop production, pest, disease and weed management, and soil fertility management. The research design was as a multiple case study of five cases in China, Brazil and Egypt. We show that the adoption of organic agriculture has induced fundamental changes in organic farmer management practices, although agroecological practices of organic farmers do not fulfil organic principles. The forces of conventionalisation exert a strong influence on changes in organic farmer practices. Organic ‘niche’ market crops with a high-value influence organic farmers’ management decisions, particularly regarding the prioritisation of diversity in the cropping systems for agroecological purposes. The farming systems have therefore not undergone major changes of their cropping patterns. Furthermore, there was a general heavy reliance upon input substitution for pest and soil fertility management. This study thus presents new data and a novel analysis of the implications at the farm scale of the global expansion of organic agriculture, and the influence of conventionalisation on farmers practices.

A comparative study of farm nutrient budgets and nutrient flows of certified organic and non-organic farms in China, Brazil and Egypt

Increased demand for certified organic products has led to an increase in the number of certified organic farms in developing countries. Knowledge of farmer nutrient management practices on certified organic farms in developing countries is limited. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the adoption of certified organic agriculture on farm nutrient flows and nutrient budgets, and evaluate to which degree organic farms comply with organic principles relating to nutrient management. The study is based on five case studies of different types of certified organic farming systems in Brazil, Egypt and China. Farm nutrient flows and nutrient budgets for nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium were created for each farm. Four of the five organic systems studied had nutrient surpluses on the farm budget. The surpluses were of varying magnitude. The main difference between organic and non-organic farm nutrient flows was the replacement of mineral fertilizers with organic inputs. However, the magnitude of nutrient flows were generally similar for organic and non-organic farms. Certified organic farms with positive nutrient budgets had a heavy reliance on external inputs. Continued high dependence on an external supply of nutrients, which typically originate from mineral sources, poses a significant challenge to organic farmers’ fulfilment of the principles of organic agriculture.

Redes alimentares alternativas e novas relações produção-consumo na França e no Brasil

O presente trabalho analisa redes alternativas de comercializacao de produtos ecologicos e novas relacoes producao-consumo na Franca e no Brasil. O metodo de investigacao foi baseado na pesquisa descritiva e qualitativa a partir de 20 experiencias selecionadas com atores (agricultores, comercializadores, consumidores e especialistas) que comercializam alimentos ecologicos na Franca e no sul do Brasil. Como resultado apresenta-se uma tipologia, as caracteristicas e a organizacao dos circuitos curtos de comercializacao. Os sistemas alternativos sao muito diversificados e dinâmicos, sendo uma opcao social, economica e ambiental para a agricultura familiar, fortalecendo os mercados locais e religando produtores e consumidores. Em ambos os paises as iniciativas bem-sucedidas em sistemas alternativos acontecem em locais onde existem formas de coordenacao em rede e parcerias entre o poder publico, entidades nao-governamentais, empresas, organizacoes de agricultores e consumidores.

A relação da mulher e a terra na revista Agriculturas: uma análise de conteúdo

This paper is the result of a partnership between the library and the RD&I sector of Embrapa Meio Ambiente through the content analysis method of articles of the journal Agriculturas. The search comprised to understand the role and importance of women, in the view of authors, and the main activities that they develop. The majority of articles show that women act in the productive unity with specific activities, and also, with handcraft, besides other functions equally noteworthy. They have sensibility to work respecting the agroecology principles where the practices are expressed on the developed activities in the production unity. On the articles of the journal Agriculturas, the women perform the role of “seed custodians”, also, the keeper of local culture and many times they are on the center of the decisions about what to plant, how to plant and where to sell the production. Therefore, working in conjunction with the Library has allowed the development of this research, highlighting the method of content analysis to identify articles about the role of women in the field.