Abstract
The present essay is meant to provide some background on the evolution of
the soil science community in Brazil, since its inception, to describe its current
situation, and to outline a number of opportunities and challenges facing the
discipline in decades to come. The origin of Brazilian agronomy dates back to the
beginning of the 19th century as a subdiscipline of botany, and its association with
chemistry would later establish it as a science. In the middle of the 19th century,
agricultural chemistry was born as a result of this association, leading to the
establishment of edaphology, a branch of Soil Science. Another branch of Soil
Science, known as pedology, was established as an applied and scientific knowledge
in Brazil during the middle of the 20th century. During the same period, the
Brazilian Soil Science Society (SBCS) was created, merging the knowledge of both
branches and gathering all scientists involved. Twenty years after the SBCS
foundation, the creation of Graduate Programs made Brazilian Soil Science enter
the modern era, generating crucial knowledge to reach the current levels of
agricultural productivity. Part of a community composed of 25 Soil Departments,
15 Graduate Programs and a great number of institutions that promote research
and technology transfer, Brazilian soil scientists are responsible for developing
solutions for sustainable development, by generating, adapting and transferring
technology to the benefit of the country. The knowledge produced by SBCS
members has been particularly significant for Brazil to achieve the status of most
competitive tropical agriculture in the world. In the future decades, Soil Science
will still remain topical in discussions regarding environment care and production
of food and fibers, in addition, it will be essential and strategic for certain issues,
such as water quality, reducing poverty and development of renewable sources of
energy.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 589-599 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Revista Brasileira de Ciência do Solo |
Volume | 34 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2010 |