Prospecção de plantas espontâneas com potencial alimentício e avaliação agroeconômica de um módulo de cultivo orgânico

Abstract

In pursuit for healthier and more sustainable lifestyles, a global population portion has undertaken changes in consumption habits, which explain why natural, functional and nutraceutical foods, grown in organic production systems, have been experiencing increasing demand. In Brazil, the vegetables are the highlight, being the most organic consumed product, driven by different markets such as fairs and fair trade groups. These markets channels, because of their peculiarities, can sensitize consumers and induce the demand for new food products, such as unconventional food plants (UFPs) that are gaining space in Brazilian research and media. This work aimed to prospect among the community of spontaneous plants of an Module of Organic Vegetables Cultivation, which lends themselves to human food, as well as to determine the agroeconomic performance of this experimental area in the conditions of the Baixada Fluminense in the agricultural year 2017/2018. . The studied area - Module of Organic Intensive Vegetables Cultivation, receives fertilization strictly of vegetal origin, has 1ha and is part of “Fazendinha Agroecológica Km 47”, located in Seropédica/RJ. The research tools used were: a) study the soil seed bank composition through the emergence seedlings technique, b) analysis the emergent flora using the square-inventory method, and c) monitoring inputs and outputs of entries, harvests and the production system work. The agroeconomic evaluation was based on the cost-benefit ratio, based on costs and prices of different commercialization scenarios. The data were submitted to univariate, multivariate, geostatistical and phytosociological statistical analysis. It was verified the presence of a total of 10 PANC of spontaneous occurrence in the area of the Module of Organic Intensive Vegetables Cultivation. In the present study, five species (Galinsoga quadriradiata Ruiz & Pav, Amaranthus deflexus L., Oxalis latifolia Kunth, Galinsoga parviflora Cav. and Laportea glandulosa (Wedd.) V.C. Lima) were identified. The spatial distribution of the spontaneous species present in the area is of the aggregate type; in addition, with the increase of soil depth, a decrease in the presence of seeds of species considered PANC is observed. The production system is economically viable if the commercialization of the production of 12,790 kg of food takes place at the Fairs of the Carioca Circuit of Organic Fairs and by the institutional market through the National School Feeding Program (PNAE). In Glebe 1 the nutrient balance was positive for N, Ca and Mg, slightly negative for P (-0.48 kg) and negative for K, with a deficit of 19.16 kg in this area. Already on plot 2, the overall balance was negative for all nutrients.