Evaluation of Pineapple Crop Used as Firebreak in Roraima, Amazonia M.R. Xaud a , H.A.M. Xaud, M. Mourão Jr and A.B. Bendahan Embrapa Roraima – BR 174 km 8 Distrito Industrial, Boa Vista, Roraima Brazil A.L.M. Carvalho Universidade Federal de Roraima Campus do Cauamé Brazil Keywords: Ananas comosus var. comosus, Desmodium ovalifolium, Arachis sp., biomass, burning, forest fire Abstract Firebreaks are areas around fields with economic activities where vegetation is removed or modified in order to make fire propagation difficult, and hence protecting these areas from fire damage. Hedgerows used as firebreaks are a group of plants with the capacity of staying green and humid during the dry season. The use of hedgerows has been studied in Amazonia, especially in regions prone to forest fires as a consequence of intensive use of burnings which cause large ecological, social and economic damage. The objective of this work was to evaluate the potential of pineapple crops as firebreak hedgerows in fire prone regions of Roraima State, Brazil, in comparison with plants from other groups of herbaceous species (Desmodium ovalifolium and Arachis sp.), commonly used in rural areas in Amazonia. Results indicated that the treatments with pineapple, not only in dense crops but also in traditional ones, did not allow fire propagation as a consequence of high humidity in its aboveground biomass and its good soil coverage increasing burning time and avoiding fire propagation. Pineapple crops showed to have desired characteristics to avoid fire propagation, superior to those of the other treatments studied. INTRODUCTION In rural areas of the Amazonian region burnings are common scenes. Fire is constantly used by cattle farmers in pasture management, and by small farmers and indigenous communities to clean areas for cultivation, damaging the sustainability of the production system. When fire escapes from the delimited area, it is called an accidental fire or a forest fire. The occurrence of forest fires in Brazil has caused strong alterations in the environment with important economic consequences (Batista, 2000). Firebreaks are areas around fields with economic activities where vegetation is removed or modified in order to make fire propagation difficult, protecting these areas from fire damage. The use of firebreaks, in spite of some risks, is one of the methods recommended for reduction of burning material, decreasing the chance of fire propagation. Hedgerows used as firebreaks are a group of plants with the capacity of staying green and humid during the dry season. In previous work developed in the Amazonian State of Acre (Rodrigues et al., 2001), three herbaceous species were tested as hedgerows: Desmodium ovalifolium, Arachis sp. and Ananas comosus (pineapple). The results in Acre indicated efficiency of pineapple as dense crop in stopping fire propagation. In order to support an Amazonian need for the use of hedgerows as firebreaks, a project called Proambiente (Pro- Environment) had extended the study to the state of Roraima, in the north of the Brazilian Amazon. The objective of this work was to evaluate the pineapple crop as firebreak hedgerow in fire prone regions of Roraima in comparison with plants from other groups of herbaceous species (Desmodium ovalifolium and Arachis sp.), commonly used in rural areas in Amazonia. a maris@cpafrr.embrapa.br 245 Proc. VI th IS on Pineapple Ed: D.H.R.C. Reinhardt Acta Hort. 822, ISHS 2009