Characterization of growth and CO2 balance of an intensively managed elephant grass pasture

Abstract

The increase in population increases the demand for food in all the countries of the world, especially those derived from beef cattle and milk. Thus, it is necessary to increase the productivity of areas that are already used for animal production. Brazil is among the largest producers of meat and milk in the world, however, national production systems are most extensive, using degraded or poorly managed. The process of intensifying production in livestock systems is one of the tools to find the balance between sustainability and increased food production. In this project, the objective is to calculate the carbon balance in an intensive pastoral production system, in the state of São Paulo, in addition to characterizing the growth of pastures in different periods of the year, subject to the variation of the seasons, which will allow us to understand the dynamics of mass and carbon accumulation in this important agroecosystem. The results of this work can be compared with the balances of carbon in extensive production systems, already well established in the literature. The methodology includes the use of the turbulent vortex covariance method for continuous measurements of CO2 flux, which will serve as a basis for calculating the carbon balance. The data will serve as a basis to support studies of seasonal and interannual variability of CO2 fluxes in intensive systems of production animates pasture, still little characterized in Brazil.(AU)