The first research of the genre in the world was carried out in a partnership between Embrapa, Natura, and Camta. Systems produced palm oil known as dendê in Brazil, and also generated environmental services. The average yield per plant was 180kg of bunches in agroforestry systems (AFSs); in the conventional crops in monoculture it is 139kg bunches. Oil content per bunch was also higher: 24.7% in comparison with the average of monoculture, which varies between 18% and 22%. The AFS areas employed agroecological management, with organic fertilization, green fertilization, live cover, and use of biomixtures The amount of organic matter disposed in the soil resembles the one of a forest, making it possible to increase the average carbon stock in the soil from 31 to 47.5 tons per hectare. The African oil palm that is cultivated in agroforestry systems (AFSs) is efficient and generates environmental services. This is the conclusion of the research that, for 12 years, has assessed African palm oil crops and other fruit and forest species planted in the same area. The work was led by a partnership between cosmetic company Natura's research department, Embrapa Eastern Amazon, and the Mixed Agricultural Cooperative of Tomé-Açu (Camta).It was the first research of this kind in the world and the results proved the viability of African palm oil production in a biodiverse system. The experiments were carried out in the area of three farmers in the municipality of Tomé-Açu (Pará, Brazil). At the end of 2008, two AFSs were implanted in each property with palm oil in different degrees of species diversification in areas that previously had abandoned orchards, a degraded pasture, and a secondary forest, also called thickets or "capoeira" in Brazilian Portuguese. Two types of area preparation were studied: manual and mechanized preparation, without the use of fire, in which the vegetation is crushed and deposited over the soil forming a dead cover. Throughout 12 years of assessments the systems showed high yield and environmental servicessuch as food and wood supply, and climate and water regulation. With a lower amount of oil palm trees per hectare than conventional cultivation methods, the Oil Palm AFS reached similar yield to monoculture levels considering the same crop area. It happened because the yield of the plan was higher, reaching 180kg fruit bunches per plant, whereas in monoculture this number reaches around 139kg. In different AFS arrangements, from 81 to 99 African palm oil plants per hectare were combined along the years with agricultural crops, and forest, fruit and fertilizing species. Crop treatment in the Palm Oil AFS was based on agroecological management with organic fertilization, green fertilization, live cover, and use of biomixtures. Better-nourished soil The palm oil yield in the AFSs also presented differences in comparison with traditional crops. According to data from scientific literature, the oil content in the palm bunch varies between 18% and 22%. In the Palm Oil AFS the yield reached an average of 24.7%. For the project coordinator and Natura researcher Débora Castellani this advantage can be attributed to soil nutrition. "One of our goals was to work towards the improvement of soil quality, resulting in much organic matter and diversity of microorganisms," she states. In order to measure the supply of environmental services that the Palm Oil AFS can offer, Embrapa had to assess soil quality during the project. One of the main indicators is the total amount of carbon that the crop system is able to store. "The organic matter in the soil is composed by approximately 58% of carbon and its higher presence directly affects the attributes of soil quality, such as water retention, porosity, and microorganisms activity, which will favor the cycling of nutrients," the Embrapa Eastern Amazon researcher Steel Vasconcelos, explains. Farmer welfare and financial viability In addition to being efficient and sustainable, the Palm Oil AFS presented technical and financial viability even including good practices of agroecological management in production cost. The presence of short cycle species in the AFS enables a faster financial return for farmers, while wood generates a financial impact in the end of the production cycle of the input - around 25 years. Many inputs present in the AFS still have multiple uses and can generate more than one product for consumption or trade. Preliminary results of new areas implemented by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in the Palm Oil AFS project confirm the financial viability of the system linked to socio-environmental benefits. In one of the ten demonstrative units assessed, based on cultivation data from up to their fifth year and projections based on scientific literature, for an area of about one hectare with the cultivation of 14 species including African palm oil, cocoa, açaí, maize, beans, native trees and fertilizing trees, among others, the return of the investment for the farmer, considering a period of 25 years, could happen from the fifth year on, less than half of the time required for the return of the initial investment in the African palm oil monoculture. Other nine demonstrative units in the region of Tomé-Açu are being analyzed to study the potential of financial viability of Palm Oil AFS in new production arrangements. The pioneer project has also demonstrated the potential to increase farmers' welfare: in agroforestry the average temperature is 5 degrees lower than in the external environment, improving thermal comfort. Moreover, the system is resilient with continuous and increasing production along the years, and low occurrence of nutritional problems, pests, or diseases. "Sustainable development must not be an alternative, but a solution adopted more and more widely and constantly in our whole production chain. In our 2050 vision we have bold ambitions to generate a positive impact, which involves an incessant work of entrepreneurship and innovation. Palm Oil AFS is the proof that innovating is essential for that," the Natura innovation director Roseli Mello concludes. Another reason for the importance of soil carbon stocks is the concern on the effects that greenhouse gases can exercise over the planet's climate. Through photosynthesis, plants transform carbon gas in the atmosphere in biomass that is stored in the soil both by the roots and the disposition of leaves and branches over the surface. On the other hand, carbon gas returns to the atmosphere through the respiration of plants and microorganisms present in the soil. "When the carbon movement between the biosphere and the atmosphere is considered, the soil respiration is the second largest flow of such element, and, because of that, it is a relevant piece of data when it comes to greenhouse gases," Vasconcelos details. According to the measurements performed during the research, the conversion of one of the experiment units of secondary forest, known as thickets, into a Palm Oil AFS made the average volume of carbon in the soil per hectare go up from 31 to 47.5 tons. As stated by Vasconcelos, one of the parameters used to assess the performance in the increase of carbon in the soil by the Palm Oil AFS is a comparison with the goal established by the "4 per 1000" Initiative. This international cooperation program recommends, based on scientific data, that an annual increase rate of 0.4% per year in the storage of carbon in soils would be enough to neutralize carbon gas emissions in the atmosphere. "At Palm Oil AFS, the average yearly increase of carbon in the soils surpassed by more than 28% what is recommended by the 4 per 1000 Initiative, which demonstrates that the system is efficient in the storage of carbon produced by plants and the volume that comes from organic fertilization," the researcher assesses. Among the reasons for such results, Steel Vasconcelos attributes the preparation of crop areas, which did not use fire and maintained over the soil the crushed vegetation biomass, the fertilization management, which contributed with organic matter, and the very characteristic of the agroforestry system to become similar to a forest over the years. "This similarity involves several structural and functioning aspects such as the sum of the area of leaves per square meter of soil, which bring the AFS closer to a forest than to a monoculture system, and thus the growth and yield of plants contribute by docking carbon to the system," he states. Resilience to face climate changes Upon a future that goes in the direction of rising temperatures and extreme events, researchers look for pathways to make agriculture less vulnerable. While agricultural activity contributes to the emission of greenhouse gases, it can also be strongly affected by climate change. In the words of the Embrapa Eastern Amazon researcher Alessandro Araújo, a crop system is "wrapped" by climate. "Understanding how variants such as water, temperature, sun radiation, and the whole climate physics work over plants is essential to deduce what will be the response that such organisms are going to have in a future of climate changes," the scientist states. Since May 2019, more than 80 tools installed in a micro-meteorological observation tower and spread in the soil of one of the Palm Oil AFS in Tomé-Açu provide daily information on the micro-climate in the experimental area for Embrapa’s research center in Belém (Pará, Brazil). Data such as sun radiation, precipitation, air temperature and humidity, wind speed and direction, and soil humidity and temperature will allow the study to relate the effects of variations in the environment to the development of plants. "We know that the combination of several species in an AFS provides economic resilience to farmers due to the possibility of year-round harvesting, but not only that. The AFSs can also provide climate resilience or resistance to climate changes either from natural or anthropogenic causes," the researcher emphasizes. In addition to helping to model future scenarios, the micro-meteorological monitoring also brings information on water use dynamics and the interaction between plants within the agroforestry system in which oil palm is inserted. "Most water in the soil is used by plants in the transpiration process. With the monitoring, we are watching the strategies that the oil palm uses in search of water and nutrients in the soil, information that is needed to improve system management," Araújo clarifies. According to the researcher, the first results should come out after three years of assessment. "It is the minimum time to affirm that certain characteristics are held and were not results of an atypical year," he explains. The micro-meteorological observation tower in Tomé-Açu is part of the Large-scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Program in the Amazon (LBA), a cooperation program among several scientific institutions that study the effects of climate in the Amazon region. Technological and social innovation The sustainability of African palm oil crops in family farming in the Amazon is one of the challenges in the project portfolio that Embrapa has for the region. There are 75 projects in partnership with a network of public and private institutions, which aim to develop, expand, and foster new development models through the integration of science, technology, and innovation with public policies, market, and society. The researcher Judson Valentim, from Embrapa Acre, leader of the Amazonia Portfolio, says that the region still lives with the paradox of counting on the largest stock of natural resources in the world and the worst levels of human development of Brazil. "This paradox of the poverty among the population that coexists with the richness of natural resources is unsustainable," he states. The technological and social innovation and the reformulation of public policies are the main strands to overcome the challenge of combining economic development with social inclusion and improvement of the population's quality of life, and environmental conservation in the region. To get to know more about the Amazonia Portfolio , click here.