Soil water and carbon management for agricultural resilience in a key node in the global virtual water trade network: Mato Grosso, Brazil

Abstract:

The Amazon region is globally connected through agricultural exports, with the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso in particular emerging as a key node in the global virtual water trade network in recent years, based largely on rainfed agriculture. The anticipated growth in the world’s population suggests that virtual water trade will only become more important to global food security. In this presentation we will evaluate strategies for improving the resilience of rainfed agriculture in the region, particularly for the nearly 12 million hectares of sandy soil with low water holding capacity within Mato Grosso that has largely been converted to agricultural use. We will review land use change trajectories and present results from soil water balance modeling and carbon fluxes for a range of future scenarios, including continued agricultural extensification, potential strategies for agricultural intensification, and novel water and carbon management strategies including biochar use in sandy soils to improve soil water holding capacities and soil carbon sequestration. We will also consider the role that irrigation might play in the future in the Amazon for improving agricultural resilience to climate change and feedbacks between irrigation and land use change pressures, noting that groundwater resources in the region are presently among the least exploited on the planet.