Abstract

BONILLA-BEDOYA, Santiago; LUGO-SALINAS, Leonardo  and  MORA-GARCES, Argenis. Piora crop distribution and its relationship with soil characteristics and properties in the conucos of the venezuelan orinoquia. Rev. Chapingo ser. cienc. for. ambient [online]. 2012, vol.18, n.2, pp.241-249. ISSN 2007-4018.  https://doi.org/10.5154/r.rchscfa.2011.11.084.

Shifting cultivation system, factor in the food sovereignty of the Piaroa indigenous in the Venezuelan Orinoquia, is an anthropocentric activity that has preserved the dynamics of tropical rainforest. Today, the changes caused by globalization processes threaten the sustainability of the system. Therefore, studying in detail the operation of the systems is fundamental for making decisions regarding the management of the tropical forest. This study proposed to determine the relationship between crop species and soil characteristics at the stage of sowing. Therefore, 40 sampling units (soil and vegetation) were placed in 4 Piaroa conucos, in two different periods of time after burning (0 to 2 and 2 to 4 years). Based on the field data, a model was developed to explain the spatial distribution of each grown species according to the soil characteristics. The model used showed different responses depending on the species grown by the Piaroa indigenous. However, this model explains the selection of microsites for sowing through soil physical properties, leaf litter distribution and biomass distribution after the felling and burning stage in the conuco.

Keywords : Native cropping system; soil; crop species; sowing.