No Agreste paraibano, a batata (Solanum tuberosum L.) é importante cultura comercial, embora seja limitada pela variabilidade e escassez de chuvas e pela baixa fertilidade do solo. O esterco é a principal fonte de nutrientes utilizada para fertilização do solo, porém geralmente não é disponível em quantidade suficiente nas propriedades rurais para suprir a demanda das culturas agrícolas. Como alternativa tem sido recomendada a adubação verde com Crotalaria juncea L. Realizou-se um experimento, de 1996 a 2002, em um Neossolo Regolítico, com o objetivo de quantificar a produtividade da batata e o estoque de nutrientes no solo, após incorporações anuais de esterco e, ou, crotalária. Os tratamentos consistiram de: incorporação da crotalária (C), adição de 15 t ha-1 de esterco caprino (E), incorporação de crotalária + 7,5 t ha-1 de esterco (CE) e testemunha (T). No final do experimento, o tratamento E promoveu aumentos de 73, 45, 221 e 43 % nos teores de N total, P total, P e K extraíveis (Mehlich-1) do solo, respectivamente, em relação à testemunha. Os tratamentos C e CE aumentaram o N total do solo em 76 e 63 %, mas não aumentaram o teor dos outros nutrientes. Os acúmulos médios de massa seca, N, P e K na parte aérea da crotalária nos tratamentos, ao longo dos cinco anos, foram de 3.550, 69, 6 e 55 kg ha-1, respectivamente. As produtividades médias de tubérculos, ao longo dos cinco anos de colheita, foram de 15.204, 12.053, 11.085 e 7.926 kg ha-1 nos tratamentos CE, C, E e T, respectivamente. Apesar de a adição de 15 t ha-1 de esterco ter proporcionado os maiores aumentos nos nutrientes do solo, as maiores produtividades de tubérculos ao longo do período do estudo foram obtidas quando se combinou o plantio e a incorporação de crotalária com a adição de 7,5 t ha-1 de esterco.

The institutional recognition obtained by family farming in Brazil over recent decades has translated into the launching of a broad and diverse set of public policies specifically aimed towards this sociopolitical category. However, the design of these policies was heavily influenced by the productivist bias derived from the agricultural modernization paradigm, making the sector increasingly dependent on input and capital markets. In this same movement of institutional evolution, policies consistent with the agroecological approach created new margins for maneuvering for development trajectories founded on the use of local resources self-controlled by rural families and communities. Taking as a reference the recent trajectory of rural development in Brazil’s semi-arid region, the article analyses the role of the agroecological perspective in the strategic combination between territorially endogenous rural resources and public resources redistributed by the State. Based on the analysis of the economy of agroecosystems linked to two sociotechnical networks structured by contrasting logics of productive intensification, the study demonstrates agroecology’s potential as a scientific-technological approach for the combined attainment of various Sustainable Development Goals, starting with the economic and political emancipation of the socially most vulnerable portions of the rural population.

This article explores whether a shift in development paradigm resulted in coexistence with semi-aridity for residents of the Semi-Arid region of Brazil (SAB). If so, which strategies contributed and which conditions facilitated it? We conducted a comparative analysis of the transformations that occurred in 10 territories of the SAB during two time periods: PI (1973–2001) when “development” policies almost exclusively aimed to “combat drought and its effects”; and PII (2002–2016) when a concept of coexistence with semi-aridity informed policy making. Our study from the 10 territories of the SAB show significant changes between PI and PII. On average, there was a substantial improvement in Access to Water Infrastructure (+33%∆), Diversification of Production Systems (Animals +36%∆; Crops +61%∆), Management of Common Pool Resources (+45%∆), Involvement in Spaces of Political Organizing (+24%∆), and Access to Public Programs (+29%∆). As such, “coexistence” went from concept to action as a consequence of structural, agroecological, social, and management transformations in combination with a strengthening of mechanisms for community reciprocity. These were characterized by (a) the creation of resource reserves for use during times of drought; (b) the efficient use of available natural resources; and (c) enhanced articulation between diverse actors.