Physical-Environmental Characterization of Areas for the Cultivation of Guaraná (Paullinia cupana) in Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

Brazil is the world's leading producer of guarana and Bahia is the largest producing state, which suggests the need for cultivation planning. In this study, the physical-environmental factors of six municipalities in Lower Southern Bahia, Brazil were characterized to identify favorable areas for guarana cultivation. A database with the basic physical-environmental conditions was used to characterize and identify such areas. As described in the literature, the thresholds of conditioning factors for successful cultivation were selected using Structured Query Language (SQL) based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), with logical operators and overlay tools. The factors considered in the analysis were soils (drainage and texture), climate (precipitation and temperature), and topography (slope). The results indicate the existence of favorable areas for guarana cultivation in Lower Southern Bahia, Brazil, which can significantly contribute to the planning and optimization of fruit cultivation in the region. A total of 23,489.7 hectares were considered favorable areas for guarana cultivation. This value is double the area allocated for cultivation in Brazil and more than four times the area allocated for harvesting in Bahia.