Environment and Agroecosystems

Today I will discuss about  different and interesting topics.

Let's start with Brasil and guaraná, this plant  has Brazilian origin mainly because the conditions and the climate found in that country. The Amazon is located in the equatorial region and has a hot and humid climate.
http://climanalise.cptec.inpe.br/~rclimanl/boletim/cliesp10a/fish.html
The graphic bellow shows better how is the weather and how the rainfall is distributed over the year at the rain forest. 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/ecosystems/tropical_rainforests_rev1.shtml

It is possible to observe that the temperatures do not have a lot of oscillations during the year, but the rainy months are mainly from December till May.

For guaraná production the plant needs low altitude, warm and humid climate with 85% relative humidity, 26ºC average annual temperature and annual rainfall between 1,500 and 2000 mm.  http://www.ceplac.gov.br/radar/guarana.htm

With those observations, it clearly shows that the the Amazon has the perfect conditions to this kind of plant, once is not necessary any irrigation system, due to the plenty availability of rains during all over the year, only in November the plant will pass though some stress conditions, this period of defined drought, induces the flowering of the plant.
The soil need to be well drained, due to guaraná can not support soggy soils.
http://www.almanaquedocampo.com.br/imagens/files/a%20cultura%20do%20guaran%C3%A1.pdf

Some environmental conditions that could affect the guaraná production are: rain (need to be more
than 1500mm per year) deep soils and well drained, and warm temperature.
https://www.agencia.cnptia.embrapa.br/Repositorio/Sistema_Prod_Guarana_000fljogmyk02wyiv80lcx0a9ti24cxi.pdf.

The guaraná plantations are mainly mono crops. 
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0044-59672003000400001&lng=pt&nrm=iso&tlng=en

Resultado de imagem para guarana plantacoes
http://www.lideragronomia.com.br/2012/08/guarana.html

The sustainability production of this plant is something that need to be take in account, once is a plant that do not requires a lot of nutrients, so fertilisers applications can improve the field but is not really necessary, the fact that the plant also do not need a irrigation system is a good thing once extra water is not needed, but for the other side, those plants are really susceptible to pests and diseases so use of pesticides are normally done, and the fact that mainly of the plantations are mono crops is not a positive point to biodiversity. Due to it depends of each point of view to classify as sustainable production or not.
https://www.agencia.cnptia.embrapa.br/Repositorio/Sistema_Prod_Guarana_000fljogmyk02wyiv80lcx0a9ti24cxi.pdf

Guaraná can help in the carbon sequestration in a really simple and efficient way, as all plants guaraná also need CO2 to the photosynthesis process to create energy for the plant.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Plant Disease and Insects

Image
Today the topic will be about diseases and insects that can have interference in the guarana production.     The main disease for the guarana plants is the  anthracnose ,   caused by the fungus  Colletotrichum   guaranicola , it is one of the main problems for the low production of guarana in the Amazon.   https://www.acritica.com/channels/governo/news/embrapa-lanca-novas-plantas-de-guarana-resistentes-a-doencas-e-de-alta-produtividade-comercial   A nthracnose   The main insect that  attacks  the guarana plants is the  Liothrips   adisi .   This species has only been founded in  guaraná  plants.    https://www.embrapa.br/busca-de-publicacoes/-/publicacao/665200/observacoes-sobre-o-tripes-liothrips-adisi-strassen-1977-do-guaranazeiro   Liothrips   adisi The  insects, in order  to feed,  suck the plant sap, which causes morphophysiological changes in the ...
Read more

Final Weblog

Image
An overview of Guaraná  Guaraná is a special plant and it needs really specific conditions to grow and becomes productive. The Brazil Rain Forest from where the plant comes from could not be a better place for this plant to grow. Currently, the fruits that are commercialized and have a commercial value, but also other parts can be used, as the leaves, trunk, and seeds. All them have different properties and teas are made from it, it can provide several benefits for human health which makes guarana a magic and unique plant, and the levels of caffeine that the plants contain are incredibly higher than coffee's! Because the guaraná plant pass through dry periods the type of photosynthesis that it realizes is the C4 and the photoperiod is relevant for the growth, due to the location, the Amazon forest, the day light is always similar, once Brazil is located in the Ecuador line do not have changes in the day light. So, a regular daylight is necessary. Guaraná is monoecious, s...
Read more

Soils

Image
Today the topic we will discuss is soil! Such as an important factor for plants. people and for the world.                                             The soil of Amazon rainforest is the deepest in the world,  it have been formed from the underlying rock and rain. Some places of the Amazon River Basin, the soil is white and sandy. How is a rainforest, the rain has a lot of impact there, the soils are often washed out, so large amounts of nutrients and minerals are being removed from the subsoil, due to it, most of the soils are lacking many of the fundamental nutrients needed by the above ground vegetation. Composed by a thin topsoil, made up mainly of decaying vegetable and animals, what provide a high amount of organic matter. http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/amazon/about_the_amazon/ecosystems_amazon/rainforests/ http://www.soil-net.com/dev/pag...
Read more