Geographic Patterns of Land Use and Land Intensity in the Brazilian Amazon

Chomitz, Kenneth M. ; Thomas, Timothy S.

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT;    AGRICULTURAL LAND;    AGRICULTURAL LAND USE;    AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT;    AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-2687
RP-ID  :  WPS2687

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Using census data from the CensoAgropecuario 1995-96, the authors map indicators of currentland use, and agricultural productivity across Brazil'sLegal Amazon, These data permit geographical resolutionabout ten times finer than afforded by "municipio"data, used in previous studies. The authors focus on theextent, and productivity of pasture, the dominant land usein Amazonia today. Simple tabulations suggest that mostagricultural land in Amazonia yields little private economicvalue. Nearly ninety percent of agricultural land is eitherdevoted to pasture, or has been out of use for more thanfour years. About forty percent of the currently usedpastureland, has a stocking ratio of less that 0.5 cattleper hectare. Tabulations also show a skewed distribution ofland ownership: almost half of Amazonian farmland is locatedin the one percent of properties that contain more than twothousand hectares. Multivariate analyses relate forestconversion, and pasture productivity to precipitation, soilquality, infrastructure, and market access, proximity topast conversion, and protection status. The authors findprecipitation to have a strong deterrent effect onagriculture. The probability that land is currently claimed,or used for agriculture, or intensively stocked with cattle,declines substantially with increasing precipitation levels,holding other factors (such as road access) constant.Proxies for land abandonment are also higher in highrainfall areas. Together these findings suggest that thewetter Western Amazon is inhospitable to exploitation forpasture, using current technologies. On the other hand, landconversion, and stocking rates are positively correlatedwith proximity to past clearing. This suggests that in theareas of active deforestation in eastern Amazonia, thefrontier is not :hollow:, and land use intensifies overtime. But this area remains a mosaic of lands with higher,and lower potential agricultural value.