Ethnopedological Studies to Characterize Neosols at the Brazilian Semiarid Region

The ethnopedological approach to soil characterization presents great challenges, since the understanding of the systems occurs through the knowledge acquired by the man in his coexistence with agroecosystems. The aim of the present research was to characterize the agricultural soils through morphological, physical and chemical analysis, using ethnopedological studies in the ‘Santa Agostinha’ Settlement Project, Caraúbas-RN, Brazil. Five areas were defined for study in the soil/landscape relation: i) area with cashew cultivation; ii) area of pasture; iii) area of crops in consortium; iv) agroforestry; and v) preserved forest, used as the reference. Participatory workshops, exchanges and classifications (from the locals and formal) were carried out with the analysis of the morphological, physical and chemical attributes of the studied soils in the layers of 0.00-0.10, 0.10-0.20 and 0.20-0.30 m. The results of the ethicist classification, based on the attributes evaluation were: Quartzarenic latosol NEOSOL (cashew area); Regolitic euthrofic NEOSOL (pasture area); Ortic quartzarenic fragiudult NEOSOL (intercropping area); typical quartzarenic ortic NEOSOL (agroforestry area and typical hydromorphic quartzarenic NEOSOL that presented a close relation with the emicist classification (from the local people). The observation of the different soil types in the landscape, due to the stratification of the environments, allowed the growers to identify characteristics associated with soil potentials and restrictions and, consequently, the correct management to be adopted. The experiences of local growers in the participatory workshops provided an exchange of popular and scientific knowledge, as well as new perspectives of coexistence with the semiarid.