Soil and organic carbon losses by water erosion in coffee production areas in southern Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

Organic carbon performs essential functions in soils, which act as sources or sinks of atmospheric organic carbon. Agricultural management affects the carbon cycle in the soil, with effects on climate change. One of the crops most vulnerable to climate change is coffee. Brazil is the world’s largest coffee producer, with a predominance of management under a conventional system, with sloping terrain and the absence of conservationist practices. The absence of conservationist practices increases in soil loss rates due to water management and carbon emissions, as well as a reduction in coffee production. This paper intended to estimate soil and organic carbon losses by RUSLE in coffee farms in southern Minas Gerais, south-eastern Brazil. Data were obtained from fieldwork, laboratory analysis, and cartographic products. The results indicated, exclusively for coffee crops, soil and carbon losses between 7 and 32 Mg ha−1 year−1 and 87 and 460kg ha−1 year−1, respectively. However, the highest soil losses occurred on sloping terrains with eucalyptus plantations located downhill, and the lowest losses occurred on flat land with native forests. Organic carbon losses were linked directly to soil losses, as a result from the land practices, slope and agricultural management adopted. These results can be used for the planning and priority definition of areas needing conservationist practices, such as green manuring, planting in contour and maintaining of vegetation between coffee rows, which are already used in some sites of the study area.