Environmental characterization of small rural properties in Lucas do Rio Verde, Mato Grosso

Abstract

This work aims to quantify and characterize the area of production and environmental preservation of small farms in the municipality of Lucas do Rio Verde, State of Mato Grosso. Thus, we used data of farms, production, cultivated land, preserved area, yield, type of credit and labor. The results show that the small farms have land productivity above the state’s average, while the preserved area is way below the minimum established by law. With satellite’s images and georeferenced data from the Lucas Legal Project, at farm level, we detected that small farms have a necessary area called legal reserve of 4,792 hectares for 1,318 hectares of conservation areas, or 3,473 degraded hectares. The estimated cost to recuperate the legal reserve area is between 17 and 24 million reais.