Rangelands and Small Ruminant Production in Ceara' State, Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Rangelands are receiving increased attention as a resource for improving world food supplies. Ironically, nowhere does this food production potential need to be exploited more than in developing countries or regions without established principles of range management. One such region is the tropical semiarid northeast of Brazil. Comprising about 20% (1,600,000 km2 or 1,072,000 mi2) of Brazil's land area, 9 states make-up the geopolitical region commonly called the Northeast. The area lies in a transitional zone influenced by both northern and southern hemispheric weather patterns. Extreme variation in precipitation from year to year is common. The term polygon is sometimes used to describe the area because of the frequency and severity of droughts. The semiarid inland region of the northeast is called the sertao, and extends for 1 million km2 (670,000 sq. mi2). Climatically thesertao is characterized by mean annual temperatures ranging from 22 to 280 C (72 to 820 F), with annual minimum and maximum temperatures ranging from 8 to 400 C (460 to 1040 F), respectively. Annual precipitation ranges from 300 to 1,000 mm (12 to 39 in.). A 4to 6-month rainy season (December through May) is followed by a 6to 8month dry period. Periodic droughts may extend the dry season to 11 or 12 months. The drought phenomenon in the sertao exerts a profound influence on man and vegetation. Severe and frequent droughts are responsible for famine, unemployment, and outward migration of the human population (particularly those of the poorest economic stratum) to the major cities. Livestock are economically important in the agriculturally based society of the northeast. There are about 6 million each of goats and sheep. Ninety-two percent of Brazil's goat population is found in the northeast, compared to 30% for sheep. Generally, the sheep and goats are of mixed breeding and exhibit a variety of coat colors and patterns. Native hair (woolless) sheep are of Crioula ancestry, and have a pelage varying from a slick hair coat to a coarse short-wooled coat. The native SRD (Sem Raca Definida, without definite race) goats generally exhibit a short hair coat. There are approximately 20 million cattle in the northeast; these are a large frame-zebu type with vestiges of a hump. The predominant vegetation of the sertao is the caatinga, which is an Indian word meaning white forest. Native caatinga rangelands are largely deciduous and during the dry season take on a distinctive bleached bones appearance. The vegetation is a complex mix of small trees and