1991, En: Pearson, C.J. (ed.) Field Crop Ecosystems, serie Goodall, D.W. (ed. In chief) Ecosystems of the World. Vol. 19. Elsevier. Amsterdam, Holanda. pp. 413-450. Chapter 19 FIELD-CROP SYSTEMS OF THE PAMPAS. AJ.HALL. CM, REBELLA, CM. GHERSA and J Ph, CULOT. INTRODUCTION “Pampas” is derived from the Quéchua word for level, tree-less expanse. At the time of the arrival of the first Europeans (1516) these extensive grasslands covered a large area within what is now Argentina (Leén et al., 1984) interrupted only by gallery forests along the margins of the Parana, Uruguay and a Plata rivers and some of their tributaries (Fig. 19.1). and by some intrusions of xerophytic forests on fossil shell banks to the north-east of the present province of Buenos Aires. The only marked relief was that of the outerop- pings of the Brazilian shield in the Tandilia and Ventania hill systems spread across the south of the same province. A broad are of xerophytic forests (known as espinal, ef. Cabrera, 1976) sur- rounded these grasslands to the south, north and most of the west. The clearance of large areas of these forests around the turn of the century, often with the object of increasing the area of croplands, has extended the grassland beyond its original boundaries, but at present regular cropping with temperate species is largely restricted within the boundaries of the Pampean grasslands, with the exception of a strip about 150 km wide along the northern boundary of this area, the “foot” of the province of Buenos Aires, and a narrow corridor along the western border. In this chapter we discuss the main crop systems of the Pampas, and use the limits given by Soriano et al (1991) for these subhumid temperate grass- lands as the natural frame of reference (Fig. 19.1). ‘The nature and intensity of cropping in this area can easily be related to the subdivisions proposed by these authors, so their limits and nomenclature have also been followed. We restrict our treatment 43 Fig. 19.1. Subdivisions of the Pampean grasslands [A. Rolling rampa: B, Inland Pampa (B,, Flat Pampa. B;, Western Pampa): C. Southern Pampa and E. Mesopotamié Pampa] showing boundaries forthe region (—"~) and subregions (") Land use for eropping in the Flooding Pampa (D) and inthe area west of the 600 mm sohyet (~"=) is very limited. Limits land nomenclature taken, with sight adaptations, from Leén tal. (1984) and Soriano etal. (1991). Provinces of Argentina lying parlly within the area of interest are named and their ‘boundaries shown (~~). Ports are indicated by closed cts: BA, Buenos Aires, BB; Bahia Blanca: N, Necochea: R, Resa and meteorological station sites by closed circles within open circles: Ang, Anguil Ba, Bacarce; Per, Pergamino: Raf, Rafa: ‘la. Inset shows location of area within South America to those parts of the Pampas in which cropping is a regular and important feature of land use, thus excluding the regularly flooded Flooding Pampa, the areas west of the 600 mm isohyet and the hilly, portions of the Tandilia—Ventania system (Fig. 19.1). It should be noted, however, that in Fld Cop Si foma of The Wal), Cloerian . frraindonn - 422 / Promem C5, Cea) .a4 parts of the Flooding Pampa west of 59° West crops can occupy more than 10% of the land. We are therefore dealing with an are that runs around the Flooding Pampa from the north of the province of Entre Rios to the south of the province of Buenos Aires. A wide strip of alluvial flood plain and delta breaks the continuity of this are between the Mesopotamic Pampa and the remainder of the region. ‘The physiography and geology of the region are described by Soriano et al. (1991) and in sources riven’ by them. Here we briefly summarize some aspects relating to our present interest and germane to the subdivision of the area. The Mesopotamic, Rolling and Southern Pampas (Fig. 19.1) have well-developed exoreic drainage systems, white the drainage systems of the Inland Pampa are endoreic and poorly developed. The eastern portion of the latter subdivision, or Flat Pampa. has many quite extensive marshy areas and temporary or perma- nent lakes, and widespread flooding ¢an occur in some years. The western portion of the Inland Pampa (Western Pampa) has been strongly moulded by wind. The rolling landscape, higher infiltration rates of the sandier soils and lower rainfall make this area much less flood-prone, although some ponding of water occurs in the ‘many paleo-depressions caused by deflation. The arc of the Pampas in which cropping is a frequent feature of land use (that is, excluding the Flooding Pampa) covers about 34 Mha (IMha= 10° ha) of agriculturally useful land. and just over one-third of that area is used annually to grow grain crops. About 28 million head of beef cattle ‘graze the long- and short-term leys and natural grasslands which cover the remainder of the area. Between 50 and 75% of the land in the Rolling Pampa is used annually for grain cropping. for ‘much of the remainder of the region this propor- tion is between 20 and 40%. dropping in the Mesopotamian Pampa to 16s. In the whole of the region a further 3Mha are sown to annual crops (oats, rye, Sudan grass) used mainly for grazing, crops of this kind are particularly impor- tant in the Inland Pampa. Our focus will be the rain crops and, to a lesser extent. the annual crops sown for forage: but it should be remembered that during this century there has always been considerable interplay between cropping and graz- ing, with the emphasis shifting from one activity AJ. HALL ET AL. to the other as dictated by relative prices of grain and livestock produce. Grazing is an obligate and ‘often the dominant activity in all the subregions of this area. fairly long-term leys constitute an important link in rotations used in many areas. and in the early stages of the expansion of these activities, cropping served as an important step between natural grassland and the sowing of improved pastures. Economic and social factors have played a part in moulding cropping systems in the Pampas. Strong dependence on export markets for many products has helped cause shifts in relative impor- tance among them according to international demand, while Argentina's relatively small share of international trade has limited negotiating strength in soft-market situations. The combina- tion of a small proportion of the active population involved in agriculture and the high impact of the cost of agricultural products on urban cost-of- living has been a permanent temptation to govern- ‘ments to manipulate internal prices in favour of the majority of the population. Endemic inflation ‘over the last 30 years has probably heightened tendency. The high proportion of Argentina's exports contributed by agriculture has also made them an obvious target for manipulation of exchange rates and/or export taxes designed to redistribute income and resources from agriculture towards other sectors of the economy. On the ‘other hand, during some periods there may have been positive net flows of funds to agriculture or some sectors thereof. The relatively low costs of production typical of extensive cropping has also helped to cushion some of the negative effects mentioned above. Changes in emphasis between livestock and crop production and between crops has been a frequent response of producers to changes in these and other economic signals Most of the Pampean region has been cropped for little over a century, the main exceptions being those areas close to the few population centres on the Parand, Uruguay and de la Plata river system, Cropping expanded rapidly in most areas after cessation of the Indian raids and civil unrest and the explosive growth of the railway network after about 1875 (Scobie, 1964; Blacha. 1982; Gallo, 1983), and itis generally accepted that the present limits to the area where cropping is usual practice were reached c. 1930 (e.g. Giberti, 1961). CroppingSOUTH AMERICAN PAMPAS CROPPING SYSTEMS Within this time frame has always been extensive in nature, and even at present use of inputs is ‘moderate (e.g. nitrogen application is almost exclu- sively limited to wheat, and less than half the total crop receives nitrogen). Pethaps one of the most striking features in the dynamics of cropping over such a relatively short period has been the continuous process of change: alterations in the relative importance of cropping and grazing, the waxing, waning and renewed importance of individual crops such as wheat, maize and sunflower, the explosive growth of sorghum cropping in the 1960s and the repetition of the same phenomenon with soy bean in the 1970s. Giberti’s (1961) study of animal husbandry, the “Senior” agricultural endeavour on the Pam- pas, also reflects a continually changing scenery over a longer (350-year) period. Another striking feature of the way cropping has evolved is the recent sustained increase in total and unit grain yields in the area. This increase began in the 1950s, after some 20 years of stagna~ tion, and shows little signs of falling off. The complex web of factors which underly this increase presumably include transport technology, market constraints, mechanization, genetic advance in yield potential, availability and transference of agronomic know-how, producer expertise, land tenure systems and government policies. Unravel- ling this complex is an important and exciting task which lies outside the scope of this chapter. How- ever, we note the need for adequate explanations, and believe the above-mentioned features point up two important aspects of the system. These are, firstly. that continuing change is likely to remain a characteristic of the system while variations in market demand and technological change con- tinue: and secondly, that the combination of envi- ronmental constraints and input requirements for agriculture under Pampean conditions offer the producer a fairly broad range of options which have yet to be fully explored. and which allow him to mitigate some of the adverse effects of changes cover which he fas no control In this chapter, we set out to describe the main environmental, biological and economic conditions which influence cropping in the Pampas, and to show how these factors have moulded the geo- graphical distribution of erops and cropping sys- ts tems. We then offer a description of present cropping systems and some of their functional characteristics, and conclude with an outline of areas where improvements in our present level of understanding of crop and system functioning are required. We have paid particular attention to some environmental and agronomic constraints to continuous cropping and the present trends in crop yields. The conviction that a full explanation of the changes which have occurred in cropping in the Pampas has yet to emerge, and the cautionary tale of the savant Burmeister (ef. Gallo, 1983) who, decreed — shortly before the explosive growth of wheat cropping — that the Pampas were unsuitable for wheat, have led us to restrain our tendency toward prediction, ‘CLIMATE, The climate of the Pampas can be defined as “temperate humid without a dry season and with a very hot summer” [(¢fa) according to Képpen (1931)}, Its climatic limits lie between the 17°C mean annual isotherm to the north and the 14°C and 15°C isotherms to the south. Annual average rainfall ranges from 600 mm in the south and west, to 1000 mm in the north-east. Principal determinants The principal determinants of the climate are latitude, lack of marked relief, proximity to the sea and the Rio de la Plata, the low continental/ oceanic mass relationship and general atmospheric circulation of this portion of the globe (Burgos, 1968), The area is frequently swept by masses of air moving along the north-east-south-west axis of the region. The activity of the western sector of the semipermanent high-pressure centre over the South Atlantic (40°S) generates warm, humid air- flows from the north and north-east. Cool, dry airflows are generated from the south to west quadrant by the activity of the southern sector of the Pacificrhigh-pressure centre, complemented by the westerly circulation arising from the interaction, of the latter with the subantarctic low-pressure