Agricultural productivity and socio-cultural changes: Quilombola agriculture in Vale do Ribeira-SP Brazil

Abstract

The shifting cultivation system (SCS), one of the oldest forms of agriculture, is still practiced by quilombola communities in the Vale do Ribeira - SP. The production of SCS for domestic consumption is gradually being replaced by permanent and monoculture commercial cultivation of peach palm. This article aimed to assess the productivity of the different cultivation systems and, between areas under different fallow lenghts, discussing the reasons and the impacts of this transition, its sustainability and economic impacts for communities. As for the evaluation of productivity between the two different systems, permanent agriculture was more efficient in terms of income and the use of labor than SCS. However, SCS plays a role not only in food production, but it is also part of a complex socio-environmental relations.