DIAGNOSIS OF THE FORESTS PLANTED IN RIVER BASIN OF ‘PARDO’ RIVER, RIO GRANDE DO SUL STATE

Abstract

The present study aims to make a diagnosis of the forests planted in the basin of ‘Pardo’ river (Rio Pardo), in RS state, by contemplating the characterization of properties, of forestations, and of the availability and consumption of wood in the region. The area of reach of the study is in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul state, which main economy is the tobacco crop, enclosing 13 cities that compose the performance area of the Management Committee of Rio Pardo Hydrographic Basin. The data collect were conducted during year 2008. In order to determine the size of the sample, it was made a sampling with its probability proportional to the size, where the criterion of the sample unity distribution took in consideration the numbers of trees per city and, inside the cities, the number of trees per class of property size. The sampling method utilized on the forest inventory was by Prodan, in addition to interviews taken with the producers. The region is characterized by small agricultural producers, and 61.4% of the firewood used in the cure of tobacco leaves is acquired from others, moreover, the majority of the forestation possess reduced spacing (2.26 m²/plant) and low survival indices, in order of the 34.4% after 7 years of the plantation. The wooden current supply is of 2,781.069 m³, what guarantees a supplying for only 3.5 years. The collected data allow to evidence that the resources necessary to invest in the self-sufficiency of firewood for the crop tobacco, are of R$ 12,250,000,00, that could be placed annually, during seven years, equivalent the rotation in simple coppice, resulting in an area of 80 ha/year/city.