Zonal Patterns of Agricultural Land Use in the State of Paraiba, Northeast Brazil

Geographical Review of Japan Vol. 60 (Ser. B), No. 1, 66-82, 1987

Isao SAITW* and Noritaka YAGASAKI**

Although Northeast Brazil has been recognized as being constituted by three distinct zones, the coastal sugar cane zone (zona da mata), the semiarid inland cattle country (sertao), and the transi tional zone between them (agreste), their demarcation and the criteria for classification have not always been clear. The present study attempts to visualize the zonal pattern of land use and to propose a quantitative regionalization of the cultural landscape in the state of Paraiba, Northeast Brazil. Along a 270 kilometer belt from the Atlantic coast to Patos, the land use of one square kilometer plots was intensively surveyed at five-kilometer intervals near the coast and ten-kilometer intervals inland. Our analyses suggest that the agricultural land use pattern in the state of Paraiba is composed of eight distinct regions. Three regions are identified near the coast, the urbanized region, the sugar cane cultivation region, and the root crop producing region. The agyeste, charac terized by cattle raising and maize cultivation, is made up of the depression zone-parkland pasture region, the orographic rain-savanna pasture region, and the dense caatinga region. The sertao, where extensive grazing in sparse caatinga is the dominant form of livelihood, consists of the Bor borema Plateau and the Patos Basin. These regional divisions, identified by our field survey, were verified by analyses of statistical data on livestock and cultivated crops by municzio as well as by observations of roadside sales of agricultural commodities by peasants.

based on his field survey and statistical anal I. Introduction ysis. ANDRADE(1980, p. 9), a foremost scholar of the region, has defined the zona da mata as In Northeast Brazil the declining precipita the traditional sugar cane region with high tion from the seaboard to the inland brings temperatures and humidity, the sertdo as a about striking contrasts between the humid hot and arid cattle country with frequent tropical coast and the semiarid backcountry. drought, and the agyeste as having small Such differences in natural environment are holdings and mixed farming. According to manifest in agricultural activities and land WEBB (1974, pp. 10-12), the zona da mata use. Being students of cultural landscapes receives precipitation of more than 1,200 milli and human uses of the earth, geographers have meters so that tall evergreen and semi-decidu studied Northeast Brazil and suggested that ous arbores flourish, while the sertdo has thorn it consists of three regions: the coastal region scrub vegetation called caatinga with annual (zona da mat a), the semiarid backcountry rainfall of 270 to 800 millimeters. The agyeste, (sertdo), and the transitional zone between located between them, has rainfall of 800 to them (agyeste). 1,200 millimeters, thus providing favorable Although these regional divisions have been environment for tubers such as manioc, an commonly accepted, they have lacked clear important staple food crop in the Northeast. definitions. Demarcation of their boundaries WEBB'Sdefinition of the zona da mata is nar and the criteria for classification have not al rower and more restricted to the coast than ways been clear. JAMES(1953) outlined the that of ANDRADE. general features of land use in the Northeast The state of Paraiba provides an excellent

* Institute of Geoscience , The University of Tsukuba, Sakuramura, Ibaraki 305, Japan. ** Department of Geography , Yokohama National University, Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240, Japan. Agricultural Land Use in the State of Paraiba 67 field for studying the relationship between land to identify criteria capable of quantitative use and natural environment, for the zona da measurement for regionalizing the landscape. mata, agreste, and sertdo are clearly differen It also attempts to propose quantitatively tiated there within a short distance of the based regional divisions. For this purpose, coast. This may be the reason why Japanese an intensive field survey was undertaken in geographers at the University of Tsukuba July and August of 1984 in the state of Paraiba (formerly Tokyo Kyoiku University) have from the municI io of Joao Pessoa on the actively studied Paraiba's environment and Atlantic coast to the interior municI io of land use on six different occasions since 1966/ Patos. A supplementary field investigation 67. HAYASHIand NUMATA(1976) defined the was conducted in 1986. zona da mata, agreste, and sertao by examining The study area extends across some 270 the genral vegetation cover, indicator plants, kilometers from Cabo Branco to Patos. Land cultivated crops, and density of acude (arti use was surveyed in plots of one square kilo ficial ponds) for 250 kilometers inland along meter every ten kilometers along the survey national highway BR-230 from Cabedelo on the route (Figure 1). In the coastal region where coast. Their definition is more restrictive topographic maps at a scale of 1:25,000 were than that of WEBB, for the indicator plants available, the field surveys were conducted used in the classification, including inbauba every five kilometers. In and around Campina (Cecropia painata), are generally found neither Grande, where topographic maps at scales on farmland nor on pasture but only in forest. of 1:25,000 and 1:100,000 were not published, MACHIDA(1976), who also examined annual distance markers on national highway BR precipitation, evapotranspiration, and topo 230 were used to locate plots at 12 kilometer graphy in his regionalization of the natural intervals along the curving road between environment, agreed with HAYASHI and Salgado de Sao Inez and Sitio Mumbuca, 70 NUMATAin defining the three regional divisions. and 130 kilometers from the coast respectively. YAMAMOTO(1975), on the other hand, studied A detailed land use map was drawn for every the socioeconomic integration of the sugar one square kilometer plot based on field ob economy of the zona da mata, the peasant food servations. Five dominant land use types producing economy of the agreste, and the were recorded and plants such as sisal and livestock economy of the sertdo with a focus fruit trees and types of fences were noted. on the usinas, or modern sugar factories, of Livestock and crop production patterns were the coastal region. These contributions by then analyzed employing 1980 agricultural Japanese geographers are qualitative rather census data (IBGE, 1983). Furthermore, direct than quantitative in attempting regionaliza sales of farm produce along the roadside were tions. examined on the assumption that such com The present study investigates the pattern mercial activities reflect the regionality of of land use in Northeast Brazil in an attempt agricultural production.

Fag. 1 Survey route and locations in the state of Paraiba . 68 I. SAITO and N. YAGASAKI

Joao Pessoa's urbanization (RODOLIGUEZand II. East-west differences in land use DROULERS,1981). The pasture which appears in each location is mostly devastated and there fore can be viewed as social fallow awaiting 1. Coastal region a rise in land values (SINcLAIR,1967). 1) Vicinityof Jobo Pessoa: Location O, facing 2) Sugar cane and root crop region: Sugar cane, the Atlantic Ocean, is just west of Cabo Branco, the single most important commercial crop of the easternmost part of the South American the coastal region, appears in the location 2. continent. Here tabuleiyos, low coastal table The sugar cane fields are mainly in the southern lands, have 30 meter high cliffs overlooking part of the section, while capoeira type pasture the ocean and support small landholdings of predominates over the north. Manioc is wide capoeira type pasture with a few kitchen ly cultivated in the valley of Riacho Tibiri gardens. Capoeira is a term that refers to a which dissects the tabuleiro surface. This secondary growth forest. Sited in the eastern location appears to have a transitional land part of Joao Pessoa, the capital city of Paraiba scape between the urbanized area and a sugar with the population of some 330,000, this cane region further inland. location, with a large housing development Locations 2.5 and 3 are characterized by a nearby, will become an upper class residential monoculture of sugar cane, though its area district on the coast in the near future. is surpassed by forest (mata and capoeira). Location 0.5, five kilometers from the ocean, While the tabuleiro surface was entirely covered is just west of the Federal University of with tropical forest in 1970/71 (Figure 2-a), Paraiba. Faculty and public housing and the forest was cut, excepting in a forest reserve other housing land accounts for some 30 around Acude dos Reis, and replaced partly percent of its total land use. Although an by sugar cane, particularly along the road urbanized part of Joao Pessoa, a reserved (Figure 2-b). An area of capoeira (secondary forest dominates the area. Location 1, 10 forest) appears likely to be changed to sugar kilometers from the ocean, encompasses the cane fields in the near future. The recent land junction of Joao Pessoa's loop road and the use transition from forest to capoeira and then Recife-Joao Pessoa highway (BR-101). It has to sugar cane has been largely promoted on residential and industrial land, but a large the tabuleiros by the Brazilian government's acude occupies the largest area. Coconut program to produce alcohol (PROALCOL) palms reflect the coastal character of this area. mainly for automobile fuel. Location 1.5, situated east of the Joao Pessoa Sugar cane ranks first in the land use of airport, is dominated by housing development, locations 3.5 through 5.5. The present sugar but pasture and capoeira wasteland are also cane region is considered to be the western important landscape features. part of the tabuleiyos along the Paraiba River, These locations within 15 kilometers of once called the "sugar river." According to the ocean are under the strong influence of MATSUMOTO(1983), tabuleiyos are widely found

Fig. 2 Land use change in Tibirizinho (location 3.5). Agricultural Land Use in the State of Paraiba 69

3) Cattle region of the agyeste: The topo graphy changes from one of tabuleiros in location 5.5 to one of rolling hills in location 6. The area along BR-230 from Riacho Ipanema to Riachao do Baoamarte belongs to the depression zone whose general inclina tion is lower than that of tabuleiros. Accord ing to the landscape survey, pasture ranks first in land use across the 30 kilometers from location 6 to location 9, which thus constitutes the cattle region in the agyeste. The Atlas Fig. 3 Landuse of Mata da Bandeira(location 5). geogrdfico do estado do Paraiba (1985) describes this region as a dissected area of low relief, from the coast to the vurzea (flood plain) of the where scattered evergreens, juazeiro (Zizyphus Paraiba River (location 4). West of the river, undulata), are a distinctive feature of the the land surface has been substantially dis pasture. We call it a parkland type pasture sected. Although HAYASHIand NUMATA(1976), or a savanna type pasture to distinguish it based on existing vegetation cover, would from pasture in the sugar cane region charac place location 3 (30 kilometers from the coast) terized by pangola grass. The difference be at the western margin of the zona da mata, we tween the parkland type pasture and savanna consider location 4 (40 kilometers from the type pasture is that the latter has a greater coast) as its western limit. variety of trees with avelos (Euphorbia hetero Here it should be noted that where sugar doxa) hedgerows. cane ranks first in land use, such subsistence The agreste's cattle region has maize and crops as manioc, yams, or maize-beans rank bean fields following pasture in the land use either third or fourth. In location 5 (Mata order. Beans, locally distinguished as feijdo da Bandeira) for example (Figure 3), sugar (beans) or fava (lima beans), are commonly cane and pasture are followed in importance cultivated with maize in the upper part of the by manioc fields and yam fields. A lagoa, or piedmont (MELO,1980). In the agyeste, pre shallow pond created by chemical solution on cipitation increases with altitude, providing the tabuleiros, bordered by sandy soils is better conditions for such food crops. The situated in the southern section of the plot. importance of food crops in this cattle region A rotation of cropland and pasture seems to reflects the presence of peasant farmers and be occurring (SAITOet al., 1986), for the land moradores (resident farm workers) in cattle that is presently pasture is shown as under fazendas. sugar cane on a topographic map dated 1971/ Cultivation of palma santa, or simply alma, 72. Yams, an expanding crop in the region, and elephant grass, both important feeds are raised with their vines growing around during the dry season, is another characteristic poles as in Japan, though the tubers there are of this pasture region. It indicates the inten much larger than Japanese ones. Pineapples sive nature of cattle grazing mainly oriented are beginning to penetrate the region. toward fattening, as compared to that in the Although sugar cane is found in location sertao where cattle breeding is the major 6 in the varzea of small creeks, it is unimportant activity. Acudes and wind pumped wells are there. Thus the sugar cane region is a 35 numerous, and elephant grass is grown where kilometer wide region, from location 2 through water is available. Small areas of herbaceous location 5.5, within which the dissected tabu cotton appear in this region, but recent leiros west of the Paraiba River constitute a epidemics of insects (Anthonomus grandis root crop producing sub-region. The decline Bodeman) have sharply decreased the area in in precipitation from the tabuleiros inland to cotton (EMSRAPA-EMATER,1984). In 1986 some the dissected tabuleiros probably influences the recovery was observed in cotton cultivation. transition from sugar cane to root crops. 70 I. SAITO and N. YAGASAKI

2. Borborema Plateau 1) Brejos and dense caatinga: Locations 10 and 11 belong to the piedmont slope of the Borborema Plateau. These locations on BR 230 are areas of brejo with the characteristics of higher rainfall and humidity and constitute a part of the Anel do Brejos which goes through Campina Grande, Esperanca and Areia. Al though brejos in the agreste and sertao develop forest similar to that of the zona da mata due Fig. 5 Land use of Palestina(location 16). to orographic precipitation and humidity, our survey plots on BR-230 are devoid of the Although caatinga vegetation characterizes forest cover due to a long history of human the land use of locations 13 through 22 on the occupancy. Pasture with exposed crystaline Borborema Plateau, that in locations 13 rocks are striking landscape features. through 16 is designated as dense caatinga to Although Esperanca and Alagoa Nova, be distinguished from sparse caatinga west of which are also part of the Anel do Brejos, Soledade. Dense caatinga consists of straight grow Irish potatoes, vegetables, bananas and bushes three to four meters high with jurema sugar cane, locations 10 and 11 do not have and xerophytes such as mandacaru, and with these crops and instead resemble the pasture well developed undergrowth. Here the caatinga region of the agreste. Figure 4 shows location grazing field is dominant, where 10 to 15 10, for which there are no topographic maps. hectares of land is required to support a head The parkland type pasture dominates land of cattle. It is extensive land use compared use in location 10, while maize and beans are to the agreste' pasture. also found together with the houses of a few Maize and cotton are frequently observed moradores. Elephant grass is seen along a in dense caatinga, as in location 16 (Figure 5). creek near the road, and very small areas of Although caatinga pasture is the dominant manioc, though not shown in the figure, are type of land use, maize, cotton and palma also evident. Such a combination of land use account for some one-third of the total area. typifies the agreste. It is an intensive cattle In order to protect crop fields from an animal and food producing region. intrusion, vertical brush fencing is widespread Location 11 has a federal police office and (MATHERand HART, 1954). This type of fenc location 12 embraces Botafogo Lake, both in ing becomes a general feature of the landscape the vicinity of Campina Grande (population west of location 16, where goats are more 248,000), the second largest city of the state. common. The land use of dense caatinga areas The land use of these locations is under the resembles that of the agreste. strong influence of the city. 2) Sparsecaatinga: From location 17 to location 22, sparse caatinga pasture is the pre dominant form of land use. Here under growth is sparse. Although yellow and purple flowering mata pasto (Cassia bica5sularis) plants are common, they are stunted and separated one from another. The sparse caatinga here may reflect the original meaning of the term "white forest." West of location 20, the study route follows state road 228 in order to maintain an east to west course. Location 18, totally covered with caatinga Fig. 4 Land use of Fazenda Santa Candia (location pasture, well exemplifies the land use in this 10). region. Exceptions are location 20 with Agricultural Land Use in the. State of Paraiba 71 Table. 1 East-west survey of land use in the state of Paraiba 1984. 72 I. SAITO and N. YAGASAKI Table. 1 (Continued)

Note: x: Presence xx: Frequent appearance *: Numbers indicate the northwest corner on topographical maps . Agricultural Land Use in the State of Paraiba 73 many peasant farmers, and location 21 where Assuncao's urban land use occupies a sub stantial area. Where peasant farmers are present, maize and arboreous cotton are inter planted, contrasting with the maize-bean complex in the agyeste. Throughout the Borborema Plateau, sisal was once an important commercial crop. Only two locations have sisal fields today but relics of the plant are frequently observed in caatinga fields. Sisal's styles, notable from a distance, Fig. 6 Land use of Logradouro (location 25). are used as temporary cattle fencing in the twon of Assuncao while the leaves, after being dried and softened, provide fibers to tie up the maize-bean fields and the maize-cotton firewood. fields of the agyeste and sertdo during the dry season after harvest. 3. Caatinga on the slope of Patos Basin Table 1 summarizes the results of the The eastern slope of the Patos Basin (loca survey. The location of the northwest corner tions 22 through 26) appears to be the driest of each one square kilometer plot is provided part of the Paraiban sertdo. Inselbergs created based on topographic maps. by mechanical erosion and dwarfed caatinga vegetation prove its aridity. Located 220 to III. Zonal patterns of agricultural landscape 260 kilometers inland from the ocean and in 1. Examination of north-south patterns of the upstream area of the Rio Espinharas of the land use Piranhas system, it has mostly a thorn bush vegetation without undergrowth so that the The analysis of land use has so far been sandy ground surface is largely exposed to entirely linear, based on surveys of locations the sun. Goats are the principal animals kept along an east-west trunk road in the state here. Instead of the vertical wooden fences so of Paraiba. The question may be raised as common along the major road in the eastern to whether the locations could possibly ex caatinga, the brush fences in these locations are emplify the general zonation of land use from horizontal wooden bars attached to posts. On the coast inland, for the road might be assumed grazing grounds where wooden poles and to promote commercialization in adjoining barbed wire fences are installed, goats wear a areas by providing for better accessibility to pillory, or a triangular wooden frame, around the major market. In order to examine the their necks to kept them outside the field. validity of our sample, land use was surveyed Cattle and goats carry cowbells as well. Cow along a north-south axis in five locations at bells can be obtained at livestock husbandry five kilometer intervals, covering 20 kilometers supply stores in the towns of the sertao. north-south and two kilometers east-west. The Location 25 (Largadouro) has a land use results are summarized in Table 2. pattern representative of all locations 22 Location N1, in the meanders of the Rio through 26 (Figure 6). Jurema and f avela Gurinhem, a tributary of Paraiba River, where (Conidoscolus phyllacanthus) provide cattle the town of Fazenda Sobrado is located, is on with important feed and characterize the state road 079 connecting BR-230 and Sape. vegetation of the sparse caatinga. Pasture Sugar cane ranks first in the land use pattern with arboreous cotton is present, and cotton there, closely followed by pasture, and then fields are also observed. This location on the by maize, maize-beans, and yams. As a topo eastern slope of Patos Basin may have peasant graphic map dated 1971 shows cana (sugar farming elements, for vazante agriculture cane) on fields now occupied by pasture, it (YAMAMOTOand HIRAOKA,1977) is practiced may be assumed that field rotation is con nearby. Stubble grazing occurs generally in ducted here too. 74 I. SAITO and N. YAGASAKI

Table. 2 North-south survey of land use in the state of Paraiba, 1984.

Location S1 is along an unpaved road con longitudinal similarities of land use were also necting BR-230 to Pilar, an old administrative observed west of the north-south survey line center on the Paraiba River. While pasture between Caja and Itabaiana. Therefore, we with avelos hedgerows heads the land use list, are convinced that our sample locations along sugar cane is in second place followed by the state highway closely reflect the east-west maize-beans, manioc, and yams. A number pattern of land use. of acudes are observed and elephant grass is cultivated along creeks. The land use of 2. Comprehensive analysis of landscape location S2 resembles that of location S1, ex patterns cepting that sugar cane leads pasture. Sugar Figure 7 offers a comprehensive representa cane and pasture are also in first and second tion of landscape transition based on the place respectively in location S3, located field survey of 35 locations in an east-west south of Pilar and east of Itabaiana. Other transect along BR-230 and state road 228 land uses are fields of manioc, yams and sweet from Cabo Branco on the Atlantic coast to a potatoes. point east of Patos. There are eight locations, Locations N1, S1, S2, and S3 in the north one every five kilometers, near the coast, and south axis have many land use characteristics 27 locations, one every ten kilometers, farther in common with location 5 on BR-230. Sugar from the coast. The north-south deviation cane and pasture are the leading land use of these locations being only 19 kilometers, elements, followed by such food crops as they may be considered to be in a latitudinal manioc, yams, maize-beans, and sweet potatoes. line. Although the threefold regional division Avelos hedgerows in pastures are another of zona da mata, agreste, and sertdo, and the common feature. These locations well re geomorphological classification of coastal tabu present the food producing economy located leiros, Borborema Plateau, and Patos Basin between the zona da mata and the agreste. have been widely accepted, our landscape Yams appear to be an indicator crop of the survey suggests more detailed regional units region. reflecting the natural environment, vegetation The surveys suggest that, unlike advanced cover, and agricultural activities in this 270 capitalist economies where agricultural com kilometer-long belt. mercialization proceeds along major com Land use in the area from the Atlantic munication routes, the land use in our study Ocean to a point 15 kilometers inland on tabu area is a direct reflection of the natural environ leiros is under the strong influence of the city ment where annual precipitation declines with of Joao Pessoa, for devastated pasture await distance from the coast (NISHIZAWA,1976) ing a rise of land values is a striking landscape and agricultural mechanization remains mini feature. The original tabuleiro surface is well mal excepting for sugar cane cultivation. Such preserved for 40 kilometers from the ocean, Agricultural Land Use in the State of Paraiba 75

Fig. 7 Patterns of land use between Joao Pessoa and Patos, Paraiba. protected from erosional processes by the the sugar cane region on tabuleiros, and the coastal forest to which the name "zona da root crop producing region on dissected tabu mata" (forest zone) has been applied. Farther leiros, can therefore be considered as subregions west, beyond the Paraiba River, the tabuleiro of the tabuleiros in the zona da mata. surface remains only in patches (MATSUNOTO, The area 60 to 90 kilometers from the coast 1973). Sugar cane cultivation, promoted by belongs to the depression zone where insel the recent PROALCOL program of the federal bergs and rolling hills are dominant geo government, predominates over the preserved morphological features. This is the intensive tabuleiro surfaces. Here the prevailing features cattle raising region of the agreste, where a of the landscape appear to have changed parkland type pasture leads the land use with through time from forest to capoeira, and most such cultivated feed as patina and elephant recently to sugar cane. This process has grass. Maize, beans, and cotton are also provided urban centers with building materials important here. On the eastern slope of the as well as fuel for domestic consumption and Borborema Plateau precipitation increases with business use, including bakeries and brick altitude. The region 100 to 120 kilometers making. from the coast, which can be seen to have Sugar cane also leads land use in the region brejo conditions, is considered a western ex 40 to 45 kilometers from the coast, but pasture, tension of the agreste cattle region, for intensive manioc, and yams increase in importance. farming as practiced in Esperanca and Alagoa In particular, yam cultivation has been ex Nova, both belonging to the Anel do Brejos, panding in recent years. This region, belong is not observed here. In addition, the sub ing to the transitional zone between the zona urban influence of Campina Grande is observed. da mata and agreste, is labeled as an intensive In the area 130 to 160 kilometers from the root crop producing district. These three coast, dense caatinga predominates where sisal regions, the urbanized region of Joao Pessoa, was once an important commercial crop, and 76 I. SAITO and N. YAGASAKI

maize and beans retain importance as in the and weight but also in the role they play in agyeste cattle region. agricultural management. Each head of cattle West of this region, from 170 kilometers to and horse is considered one livestock unit, Patos, the land surface is almost entirely each mule and burro 0.5 unit, each hog, goat, covered with sparse caatinga, and goats are and sheep 0.1 unit, and each domestic fowl important animals. On the eastern slope of 0.01 unit. the Patos Basin, also covered by sparse The number of livestock units differs sub caatinga, arboreous cotton is an important stantially from one municipio to another, part landscape element. ly in accordance with the size of the municlpio As indicated above, consideration should and the type of animal husbandry practiced , be given to replacing the traditional threefold and ranges, for example, from 31,904 in classification of the cultural landscape from Campina Grande to 116 in Cabedelo. Thus, the Paraiban coast to Patos with our eight livestock units per 100 hectares are portrayed regional divisions: 1) urbanized region of in Figure 8-b to show the overall pattern of Joao Pessoa, 2) sugar cane region on the intensity of animal raising. The highest tabuleiros, 3) root crop producing region on the density appears in the municipio of Gurinhem dissected tabuleiros on the margin of the zona (148), followed by Massaranduba, Sao Sebastiao da mata adjoining the agyeste, 4) intensive de Lagoa de Roca, Pilar, Sao Miguel de Taipu , cattle raising-parkland pasture region in the Areia and Serra Redonda, all exceeding 80 depression zone with the cultivation of maize, livestock units per 100 hectares . In general, beans and cotton, 5) brejos on the eastern the agyeste as a whole, including these muni slope of the Borborema Plateau with maize cipios, has high livestock densities. On the beans and savanna type pasture, 6) dense other hand, the sertdo west of Campina Grande caatinga pasture region on the Borborema is characterized by low livestock densities, Plateau, 7) extensive livestock grazing-sparse with municpios of 10 to 20 livestock units per caatinga region of the Borborema Plateau , and 100 hectares predominant. The lowest densi 8) sparse caatinga pasture region of the Patos ties are found in the coastal region, where Basin (see the bottom portion of Figure 7). Cabedelo (3.5) and Santa Rita have parti cularly small figures. This overall pattern IV. Statistical analysis of the land supports our field survey findings as regards use zonation the combination of pasture types and feed 1. Regional patterns of livestock raising crops raised. The livestock units for the state of Paraiba In order to verify our regionalization of land as a whole are naturally dominated by cattle use, data in the agricultural census of 1980 (85.4 percent), followed by goats and sheep are examined (IBGE, 1983). Figure 8 shows (4.5 percent), horses (3.5 percent), domestic the pattern of livestock raising by municipio fowl (2.2 percent), and hogs (1.2 percent) . in a 35 by 300 kilometer belt extending from Considering the regional pattern, cattle ratios the coast to Santa Terezinha just west of are low in the east around Joao Pessoa and Patos. high in the agyeste and Patos Basin (Figure 8 In the Northeast of Brazil, cattle and horses c). The milking cow ratios, on the other hand, are mainly raised by fazendeiros, and mules, are high in and around Joao Pessoa and burros, goats and sheep are kept in sitios Campina Grande with their large urban popula (small farms). Hogs and domestic fowl are tions, and low in the agyeste (Figure 8-d). important animals for the subsistence of Sheep and goats, both well adapted to moradores in the countryside, while in favelas aridity, have high ratios to the west of Campina on the urban fringe migrants from the sertdo Grande, particularly in Pocinhos (19.3 percent) also keep them for domestic consumption. and Soledade (15.9 percent) (Figure 8-e). This Livestock units are calculated in order to pattern confirms our field survey observations, obtain a general picture of livestock raising, though the area where sheep and goats exceed for the animals raised differ not only in size cattle in actual numbers is much smaller than Agricultural Land Use in the State of Paraiba 77

a. Municipios

b. Livestock units per 100 hectares

c. Percent of cattle by livestock units

d. Percent of milking cows by livestock units

e. Percent of goats and sheep by livestock units

f. Percent of fowl by livestock units

Fig. 8 Regional patterns of livestock raising in the state of Paraiba, 1980. Municfipios: 1. Cabedelo 2. Joao Pessoa 3. Bayeux 4. Conde 5. Santa Rita 6. Cruz de Espirito Santo 7. Sage 8. Sao Migueldo Taipu 9. Pilar 10. Mani11. Caldas Brandao 12. Mulungu 13. Gurinhem 14. Mogeiro15. AlagoaGrande 16.Juarez Tavora 17. Serra Redonda 18. Inga 19. Alagoa Nova20. Sao Sebastiao de Lagoa de Rotca21. Lagoa Seca 22. Massaranduba 23. Esperanca 24. Areia 25. Montadas 26. Puxinana 27. Pocinhos 28. Campina Grande 29. olivedos 30. Soledade 31.Juazeirinho 32. Gurjao 33.Junco do Seridb 34. Salgadinho 35. Taperoa 36. Santa Luzia 37. Sao Mamede 38. Passagem 39. Quixaba 40. Cacimba de Areia 41, Patos 42. Santa Terezinha 43. SaoJose do Bonfim 44. Mae d'Agua 45. Teixeira 46. Desterro (Source: Cease Agropecudrio, Paralba, 1980) we expected in the field. The field observa and goats. The domestic fowl ratios are high tions suggested that, in addition to the above around urban centers such as Joao Pessoa and two municipios, Olivedas, Juazerinho, Gurjao, Campina Grande, reflecting the development and Passagem would have high ratios of sheep of large scale fowl farms keeping Angola and 78 I. SAITO and N. YAGASABI other types of fowl for eggs and meat (Figure do Espirito Santo. The sugar cane zone sug 8-f). gested by the census data corresponds well 2. Regional patterns of cultivated crops with the results of the land use survey which recognized a sugar cane region as extending Figure 9 shows the planted areas of five from 20 to 55 kilometers from the ocean. major crops by percentage of total cultivated While sugar cane occupies nine percent and land area in the 19 municipios through which 14 percent of the cultivated land in Joao our survey route (BR-230 and state road 228) Pessoa and Bayeux respectively, our field passes. The municI io names are arranged survey plots, located in the vicinity of the on the horizontal axis of the graph in relation state capital, understandably lack this com to the distance from the center point of the mercial crop. Bayeux's high ratios of beans, municipio to the coastline. The percentage of maize, and yams appear to reflect food produc each crop is plotted on the vertical axis for tion in the vicinity of the metropolis, where each municjpio. Figure 10, on the other hand, newcomers from the sertao reside and cultivate represents the crop acreage ratios by muni such staple foods. cipio in map form. Yams are important in Sape and Caldas Sugar cane, the leading commercial crop Brandao, located 40 to 60 kilometers inland, of the coastal zone, is predominant for 50 while sugar cane sharply declines in the latter kilometers inland from Joao Pessoa. The municiio. On the other hand, beans, maize, municipios of Santa Rita, Cruzeiro do Espirito and cotton increase in importance to the west, Santo, and Sape have particularly high ratios in the municipios of Gurinhem, Mogeiro, and of sugar cane, reaching 36 percent in Cruzeiro Inga, 60 to 90 kilometers from the coast.

Fig. 9 Percent of cultivated land in major crops, by mnnicfpio, in the state of Paraiba,1980. (Source:Censo Agropecukrio, Parafiba, 1980) Agricultural Land Use in the State of Paraiba 79

a. Sugar cane

b. Yams

c. Maize

d. Beans

e. Cotton

. Sisal

Fig. 10 Regional patterns of major cultivated crops in the state of Paraiba,1980. (Source:Censo Agropecudrio, Parafba, 1980)

These facts suggest that the region from 40 observed west of Campina Grande at a distance to 90 kilometers from the coast is an intensive of 150 kilometers from the coast, and accounts food crop producer situated in the agreste. for 8.6 percent of the cultivated land in the This supports our field survey findings. municipio of Pocinhos. With the increase of altitude on the Bor The area 150 to 300 kilometers from the borema Plateau, maize, beans and herbal coast belongs to the sertdo where caatinga cotton decrease in importance, only account vegetation predominates. Maize and beans ing for 3.2 percent, 2.2 percent and 1.0 percent have widespread presence here, though their of the cultivated land respectively in the ratios are less than one percent except in muuicipio of Canpina Grande. Sisal, both Juazerinho where they occupy fairly large actively cultivated and in residual forms, is acreages. The major commercial crop of the

f 80 I. SAITO and N. YAGASAKI

region is arboreous cotton. It covers to nine two stalls carrying huge squashes. The area percent of the cultivated land in Juazerinho, between the Itabaiana junction and Riachao 15 percent in Passagem, and 11 percent in is the intensive cattle fattening district of the Patos. Particularly high ratios are found on agreste where maize and beans are also im the eastern slope of Patos Basin. portant. There, five or six vendors are con These analyses of agricultural census data stantly selling ears of maize broiled on a stick. by municipio verify the agricultural regionali They generally locate themselves at the top zation into eight regions based on our point of rolling hills on the highway so as to be sampling landscape survey. easily seen from approaching automobiles. Raw maize is also sold. BR-230 has two V. Regionality of direct sales of agricultural paved trafic lanes. An additional unpaved products lane on each side provides space for such roadside businesses. On BR-230, the main artery of the state of On the Borborema Plateau direct sales Paraiba, peasants often sell their products activities have different patterns. No road directly to passersby. The products, includ side stands are found near the city of Campina ing fruit and other specialties, reflect the sub Grande, probably because snacks, fruits, and sistence as well as the semi-commercial eco vegetables are widely available in the city. nomy of each locality. We therefore examined The highway east of Soledade, some 180 kilo such direct sales activities. meters from the ocean, supports vendors of Two stands that sell coconuts, oranges, fresh water shrimps. They once were sup papayas, and pineapples are found some 40 plied with shrimps from Acude Soledade located kilometers from Joao Pessoa, in the midst nearby, but recent overexploitation of the of the sugar cane region. Nearby, a temporary pond has almost exhausted the resource, so orange stand is located near a bridge across most of the shrimps now sold are brought the Paraiba River. The coconuts and papayas from other lakes. Between the town of Sole are locally produced, while the oranges and dade and the junction of BR-230 and state pineapples probably come from other areas, highway 228 in the caatinga, five or six stands including the brejos of Salgado de Sao Felix selling pinhdo are concentrated just west of (Saito et al., 1986). Juazerinho, midway between Campina Grande Where the dissected tabuleiro surface remains and Patos. One stand also has squashes and in patches some 45 to 60 kilometers from the watermelons. Pinhdo seems to be attracting ocean, 11 stands are found, often in the shade interest as an oil seed crop in the seytdo of cashew trees. Papayas, coconuts, oranges, (HANADAand ODA,1981). Further west, state manioc, sweet potatoes, yam, and squash are highway 228 has no direct sales stands because their main commodities. Being in the inten traffic is minimal. sive food crop producing region of the agreste, Direct sales activities vary from weekdays all these products except oranges are locally to weekends and from one season to another. grown. Upon the request of travelers, large, However, our survey of the products available fresh, and juicy papayas costing some 400 in direct sales stands during a limited time to 500 cruzeiros (40 to 50 yen) are cut and of the year very well confirms the regionality served with spoons on the site. The high of peasant agricultural activities and supports density of such stands may partly owe to the our regional divisions. fact that the area is about midway between Joao Pessoa and Campina Grande. VI. Conclusions Five stands carrying squash, yam, and maize are clustered just west of Caja at the Although the zona da mata, the seytao, and intersection of BR-230 and the road to Itabai the agreate have long been recognized as major ana. These stands are casual, often with zones of Northeast Brazil, their demarcation keepers who appear only when prospective and the criteria for their classification have customers visit. Riachao do Baoamarte has not been clear. The present study describes Agricultural Land Use in the State of Paraiba 81 the zonal pattern of land use and landscapes in the state of Paraiba and proposes a quanti Acknowledgement tatively based regionalization. Across 270 kilometers from the Atlantic coast directly The field survey was financially supported by the westward to Patos, 35 locations were chosen, Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture of Japan one every five kilometers near the coast, every (grant-in-aid for overseas scientific survey, 59041072 ten kilometers inland. At each location the and 61041011). We are grateful to professors Shozo land use of a one square kilometer plot was YAMAMOTO,Toshie NISHIZAWA,Mario HIRAOKA, Eiji MATSUMOTO,and Ichiroku HAYASHIof the University intensively surveyed by field observation. The of Tsukuba, and to professor Canute VANDERMEERof focus was not only on cultivated plants and the University of Vermont, for their assistance and types of pasture, but also on topography, types comments. Thanks are also due to Mr. Kazuhito of fencing and relic plants. MIYASAKAwho prepared figures. Our analyses of the field survey data sug (Received March 14, 1987) gested that the cultural landscape of the state (Accepted May 16, 1987) of Paraiba is composed of eight distinct regions. The coastal zone consists of the urbanized References region of Joao Pessoa, the sugar cane region on the tabuleiros, and the root crop producing ANDRADE,M. C, de O. (1980): The land and people of region on the dissected tabuleiros. In the Northeast Brazil. University of New Mexico Press, agyeste appear the intensive cattle raising Albuquerque, 249 p. (Translation of A terra e o parkland pasture region of the depression zone hymen no nordeste by D. V. Johnson). with the cultivation of maize, beans, and EMSRAPA-EMATER(1984): Programa de erradicacao do cotton, the brejos region on the eastern slope bicudo do algodoeiro. Brasilia, 56 p. of the Borborema Plateau with maize and HANADA, K. and ODA (1981): Crop production in Northeast Brazil. Latin American Studies, 2, 125 beans and savanna type pasture, and the dense -181. caatinga pasture region on the Borborema HAYASHI, I. and M. NUMATA(1976): Structure and Plateau. The seytao, generally characterized succession of caatinga vegetation in the Brazilian by extensive livestock raising and sparse Northeast. Tokyo Geography Papers, 20, 23-44. caatinga vegetation, is composed of the Bor IBGE (1983): Censo Agropecuario, Paraiba, 1980. borema Plateau and the Patos Basin. Brasilia, 667 p. This regionalization pattern, based on field JAMES,P. E. (1953): Patterns of land use in Northeast survey data, was supported by agricultural Brazil. Annals of the Association of American census data for municipio and by observations Geographers, 43, 96-126. of direct sales activities of farmers along the MACHIDA,T. (1976): Regional variation in the natural survey route. Domestic fowl are numerous environment of the Brazilian Northeast. Tokyo Geography Papers, 20, 75-82. near large urban centers, while cattle are im MATHER,E. C. and J. F. HART (1954): Fences and portant in the agyeste and goats, sheep and farms. Geographical Review, 44, 201-223. cattle characterize the seytao. Among agri MATSUMOTO,E. (1973): The landforms and some cultural crops, coconuts are predominant in geographic problems in the eastern part of the the coastal urbanized region, sugar cane on Brasilian Northeast. Tokyo Geography Papers, 17, the tabuleiros, and yams in the transitional 73-85. zone between the zona da mata and the agyeste. MATSUMOTO,E. (1983): A note onn the tabuleiros in the Maize and beans lead in the agyeste, sisal in coastal region of the Brazilian Northeast -a geo the dense caatinga, and arboreous cotton in morphological approach. Latin American Studies, the seytao. In the root crop producing region 6, 1-13. MELO,M. L. de (1980): Os agyeste. SUDENE, Recife, between the sugar cane region and the agyeste, 553 p. roadside stands sell papayas and coconuts. NISHIZAWA,T. (1976): Some characteristics of rainfall Squash and maize are sold directly in the de in the Northeast of Brazil. Tokyo Geography Papers, pression zone of the agyeste. In the seytao, 20, 53-61. fresh water shrimp, watermelons and pinhao R0D0LIGUEZ,J. L. and M. DROULERS(1981):Joao Pessoa, are sold. crescimento de uma capital. Fundacao Casa de Jose 82 I, SAITO and N. YAGASAKI

Americo, Recife, 64 p. Brazil. Columbia University Press, New York, SAITO, I., N. YAGASAKI,E. PAZERA, and K. MULLER 205 p. (1986): Agriculture and land tenure in Salgado de YAMAMOTO,Sh. (1975): On the areal variation of land Sao Felix along the middle reaches of the Paraiba use and its utilization patterns in the state of River in Northeast Brazil. Latin American Studies, Paraiba. Geographical Review of Japan, 48, 616-627. 8, 91-124. (J-E) Secretaria da Educacao, Governo do Estado da YAMAMOTO,Sh. (1976): On the zonal patterns of land Paraiba, Universidade Federal da Paraiba (1985): use in the state of Paraiba. Tokyo Geography Papers, Altas geografico do estado da Paraiba. Joao Pessoa, 20, 63-73. 100 p. YAMAMOTO,Sb. and M. HIRAOKA(1977): Three farm SINCLAIR,R. (1967): Von Thiinen and urban sprawl. types in the Patos basin of the inland Paraiba state, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Brazilian Northeast. Geographical Review of Japan, 47, 72-87. 50, 511-529. (J-E) WEBS, K. (1974): The changing face of Northeast

ブラジル北東部,パライバ州における土地利用の地帯的変化

斎藤功*・矢ケ崎典隆**

ブラジル北東部は伝統的に海岸部のサトウキビ地帯, スの根茎作物栽培地区の3地区に区分された.また,ア内陸部のセルトン(半乾燥地域の粗放的牧畜地帯)およグレステは地形性凹地・トウモロコシ・フェジョン・綿び両者の漸移地帯のアグレステに区分されてきた.しか花栽培・パークランド型牧場地区,地形性多雨・トウモし,その区分の指標は必ずしも明確ではない. ロコシ・フェジョン・サバナ型牧場地区,密生有刺潅木本稿ではパライバ州の海岸部カーボブランコから内陸林牧場地区に区分された.さらに,粗放的牧畜によって部のパトスまで,ほぼ東西に10km(海岸部は5km)ご特色づけられるセルトンは,疎生有刺潅木林のボルボレとに1km2の調査地点35ヵ所を選定し,土地利用調査をマ高地区とパトス盆地地区に区分された.したがって, 実施した.つまり,1km2内の栽培作物,果樹,牧場の全体的にみるとパライバ州の農業的土地利用は,景観的形態等を記載する集約的調査と地形,牧柵,残象作物等にも8つの農業地区から成立していることが明らかになの景観観察を併用することによって,東西270kmにわった. たる土地利用の地帯的変化を明らかにすることを目的と以上の結果は家畜飼養と栽培作物のムニシピオ別統計した. 分析および道路脇の小商品農産物の直売店の観察からもその結果,海岸部はジョアンペソアの都市化地区,タ裏付けられた. ブレイロスのサトウキビ栽培地区,パッチ状タブレイロ

* 〒305茨城県新治郡桜村筑波大学地球科学系 ** 〒240神奈川県横浜市保土ケ谷区横浜国立大学教育学部