Brasil Brasil For many people, agriculture is the only source of income. ANNA HAMPF SAVING THE RAINFOREST IS NOT ENOUGH Simply banning soy cultivation is not the solution, however. "Agriculture is the only source of income for many people in Mato Grosso", Hampf stresses. Small farmers in particular depend on it, which is why it is important to find a compromise between nature conservation and agricultural production. The doctoral student considers sustainable intensification to be an opportunity to reconcile these two aspects. With the help of MONICA, Anna Hampf analyzed how this goal can be achieved in Mato Grosso’s fields. MONICA is a mathematical simulation model that describes how carbon, nitrogen and water are balanced in agroecosystems. If the model is fed with information on temperature, soil, climate and nutrients, it simulates the crop growth. But first it has to be adjusted to the local conditions, for example the climate. Data on leaf size and plant height in the individual stages of plant development are also important variables to calibrate the model, but not always easy to obtain. Thanks to good cooperation with researchers at the state university in Mato Grosso, Hampf was able to calibrate the model to the crops most frequently cultivated there: corn, cotton and soybean plants. WITHOUT INCENTIVES, NOTHING CHANGES Simulation results showed that: With some adjustments to sowing dates, the cultivars used or optimized fertilization, higher yields could be achieved without significantly increasing the use of resources. However, the knowledge of the interrelationships is one thing, implementation of the derived recommendations is quite another. Farms can only cultivate their land efficiently if they have access to financial resources, new technologies, machinery and labor – at least that is the theory. Hampf tested this with a second model, aiming to show why certain cultivation methods were chosen or not. And how land use would change if farms had unrestricted access to capital, machinery, technology and labor. The results are sobering. "Our model shows that agricultural areas would continue 24 25
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