Can rice field management practices contribute to the conservation of species from natural wetlands? Lessons from Brazil
2017
Maltchik, Leonardo | Stenert, Cristina | Batzer, Darold Paul
A major goal of worldwide agriculture over the next 30 years will be to feed a burgeoning population of about 9 billion people. This expansion poses a great challenge because crop production is an activity that profoundly affects natural habitats and biodiversity. An interesting perspective for biodiversity conservation is the incorporation of production systems into overall conservation efforts. Rice is one of the world’s major crops and Brazil is the leader in the Western Hemisphere with 35% of the cultivated area. Rice fields are sometimes considered man-made wetlands with potential values for many aquatic species. The main goal of this paper is to synthesize results of studies carried out over the past decade in rice fields of southern Brazil to identify management practices that enhance biodiversity levels in agricultural matrices. We also provide direction to environmentally-oriented legislators for implementing general strategies for rice farmers to supplement aquatic diversity of natural wetlands. Major techniques include: 1) keeping some rice fields flooded during the fallow phase; 2) increasing organic rice production to reduce the use of pesticides; 3) encouraging rice farmers to rejuvenate soils by periodically taking fields out of production; and 4) avoid draining new wetlands for rice production. Incentivizing good management practices in rice fields would transfer some of the responsibilities related to the conservation of biodiversity to production systems.
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