Crop Production Systems in the Amazon Basin

This chapter focuses on realistic agricultural alternatives to the traditional shifting cultivation practiced in the Amazon Basin. The Amazon Basin is found within the area known as the humid tropics. The geology of, and consequent soil development in, the Amazon Basin was influenced primarily by the Guyana and Brazilian shields and the Andean uplifts. Soil nutrient constraints in the Amazon Basin are widespread. Zinc and copper deficiencies are estimated to be problems in 48% and 23% of the Amazon Basin soils, respectively. Quite obviously the acid, infertile conditions of the predominant Oxisols and Ultisols of the Amazon Basin are constraints to production of most of the species, except for some varieties of rice, cowpeas, and cassava, which are adapted to the conditions. The nutritional needs of the crops in the Amazon Basin, as with crop production anywhere, can be determined only by continual monitoring of soil fertility dynamics through soil and plant sampling and testing.