Ecosystem services for intensification of agriculture, with emphasis on increased nitrogen ecological use efficiency.

In weathered tropical soil, low nutrient use efficiency can lead to agricultural systems becoming unsustainable. Therefore, tropical agriculture is highly dependent on ecosystem services, such as nutrient recycling and carbon sequestration, to enhance soil fertility, increase nutrient uptake, and facilitate sustainable production of agricultural goods. This research aimed to find the balance between sustainability and profitability of tropical agriculture by evaluating the changes in soil caused by the ecosystem services provided by the biomass of leguminous trees () and assessing how these changes (associated with potassium) can affect nitrogen-use efficiency and maize yield.

Patents on periphery of the Amazon rainforest.

In the humid tropics, on the edges of the Amazon forest, the technological challenges to establishing and maintaining productive and sustainable agricultural systems have yet to be overcome. The groups involved in agriculture in the north of Brazil still engage in the practice of slash and burn in order to prepare and fertilize the soil. This produces negative effects for the local and global environment, without the counter-effect of providing social benefits to rural communities.