Belterra, Brazil
Encyclopedia
Belterra is a municipal seat and rubber
plantation
site some 40 km south of the city of Santarém, Brazil (in the federal state of Pará
) at the edge of the Planalto at 165 m above sea level (coordinates: 2.637 S, 54.936 W).
Belterra was founded as a rubber plantation, after the economic failure of Fordlândia
, which had been founded in 1934 by Henry Ford
. The intention of the US-Department of Commerce in the 1920s was to produce rubber in Brazil and to import it to USA. The advantage of the Belterra plantation over the plantation of Fordlândia 100 km to the south is the flat topography, which enables the use of machinery. In its peak time in the late 1930s some 50 km² were cultivated with Hevea Brasiliensis (rubber
tree).
In Belterra, new breeding methods with local varieties were applied, which prevented the leaf disease, a result of the monoculture in Fordlândia. This was very labour-intensive and therefore expensive. Together with the worldwide decline on demand on natural rubber, the plantation was not cost-effective anymore. Ford sold it to the Brazilian government, which is still running the plantation under EMBRAPA.
Today, the area of the plantation is some 10 – 20 km² covered extensively with mainly old rubber trees. It still gives the impression of a plantation with some 1000 - 2000 inhabitants (mainly plantation workers and their families). At the peak time, it had a population of some 8 - 10,000 people. According to a 2004 census, the entire district population, including surrounding villages, is reported as 16,790.
Amongst soil scientists, Belterra is famous for the underlying fertile, anthropogenic soil of 'Terra preta
', which might have been amongst the criteria for the selection of this site for the plantation. While Terra Preta soil patterns occur all over the Brazilian lowland, this site is extremely well developed and also scientifically surveyed and documented
14C analyses based on Terra Preta ceramic artefacts found in Belterra showed, that this area was populated and cultivated by the indigenous population in an intensive way at least since 500 B.C.
The tertiary highland is composed of some 40 – 50 m clay layers (Belterra clay) of kaolinitic sediments of a Pliocene lake, with a distinct escarpment to the North and West of the plain, which leads down to the Varzea
lowland at the river bank of the Tapajos
river.
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
site some 40 km south of the city of Santarém, Brazil (in the federal state of Pará
Pará
Pará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...
) at the edge of the Planalto at 165 m above sea level (coordinates: 2.637 S, 54.936 W).
Belterra was founded as a rubber plantation, after the economic failure of Fordlândia
Fordlândia
Fordlândia is a now-abandoned, prefabricated industrial town established in the Amazon Rainforest in 1928 by American industrialist Henry Ford to secure a source of cultivated rubber for the automobile manufacturing operations of the Ford Motor Company in the United States...
, which had been founded in 1934 by Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
. The intention of the US-Department of Commerce in the 1920s was to produce rubber in Brazil and to import it to USA. The advantage of the Belterra plantation over the plantation of Fordlândia 100 km to the south is the flat topography, which enables the use of machinery. In its peak time in the late 1930s some 50 km² were cultivated with Hevea Brasiliensis (rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
tree).
In Belterra, new breeding methods with local varieties were applied, which prevented the leaf disease, a result of the monoculture in Fordlândia. This was very labour-intensive and therefore expensive. Together with the worldwide decline on demand on natural rubber, the plantation was not cost-effective anymore. Ford sold it to the Brazilian government, which is still running the plantation under EMBRAPA.
Today, the area of the plantation is some 10 – 20 km² covered extensively with mainly old rubber trees. It still gives the impression of a plantation with some 1000 - 2000 inhabitants (mainly plantation workers and their families). At the peak time, it had a population of some 8 - 10,000 people. According to a 2004 census, the entire district population, including surrounding villages, is reported as 16,790.
Amongst soil scientists, Belterra is famous for the underlying fertile, anthropogenic soil of 'Terra preta
Terra preta
Terra preta is a type of very dark, fertile anthropogenic soil found in the Amazon Basin. Terra preta owes its name to its very high charcoal content, and was indeed made by adding a mixture of charcoal, bone, and manure to the otherwise relatively infertile Amazonian soil, and stays there for...
', which might have been amongst the criteria for the selection of this site for the plantation. While Terra Preta soil patterns occur all over the Brazilian lowland, this site is extremely well developed and also scientifically surveyed and documented
14C analyses based on Terra Preta ceramic artefacts found in Belterra showed, that this area was populated and cultivated by the indigenous population in an intensive way at least since 500 B.C.
The tertiary highland is composed of some 40 – 50 m clay layers (Belterra clay) of kaolinitic sediments of a Pliocene lake, with a distinct escarpment to the North and West of the plain, which leads down to the Varzea
Várzea
-Portugal:* Várzea , a civil parish in the municipality of Amarante* Várzea , a civil parish in the municipality of Barcelos* Várzea , a civil parish in the municipality of Santarém-Other:...
lowland at the river bank of the Tapajos
Tapajós
The Tapajós, a Brazilian river running through a humid and hot valley, pours into the Amazon River 500 miles above Pará and is about 1200 miles long.It rises on the lofty Brazilian plateau near Diamantino in 14 degrees 25' south latitude...
river.