This project is developed in the department of Vichada, located on the eastern savannas of Colombia known as the Orinoquía llanos or plains (Fig. 1). Vichada is the second largest department in Colombia, with an area of 105,947 km². It is scarcely populated, with 112,958 inhabitants (DANE 2020), about 26% of indigenous population. There are more than 50 indigenous reservations, 38 located in Cumaribo. The municipality of Cumaribo has 74,000 km2 and is one of Colombia's largest municipalities with nearly 44,000 inhabitants. Cumaribo has a tropical monsoon climate with heavy rainfall in all months except January and February. Temperatures fluctuate between 27 and 30°C throughout the year and, humidity is very high. The hydrographic network of Vichada is made up of the great rivers, streams, arroyos, and some lagoons, drain into the Orinoco River.
The soil of the Colombian Orinoquia is acidic, with pH lower than 5.5 and low content of nutrients with high content of aluminum, delivering low productivity prairies. In the development of this project, several aspects were introduced to enhance cattle food nutrition and improve the productivity of livestock exploitation in the plains of Vichada.
Beef cattle production constitutes the primary land use in the neotropical savannas of the eastern Colombian Orinoquía. Currently, the cattle production of the Vichada department occupies 88.5%, followed by pigs at 4% and horses at 3.7% (Vichada, 2020). The livestock is developed under extensive systems with a total of 260,546 heads of cattle and buffalo according to the Colombian Agricultural Institute for the year 2020. The average density of the extensive system is 1.3 heads/ha. The livestock's racial composition in Vichada includes Cebu-Criollo crosses (93%) and Cebu-Taurus.
An analysis performed in 2014 of the Colombian livestock industry concluded that the Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector emitted 106.8 Mton CO2eq, becoming the primary source of GHG emissions in the country (Pizarro-Loaiza, 2021). However, cattle ranching is one of the most critical sectors of the Colombian economy, generates income for more than half a million rural families, and guarantees national self-sufficiency in meat and dairy production nationwide. It also contributes 6.3% of the agricultural sector’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Only 43% of Vichada inhabitants have access to electric energy. The most critical situation in the dispersed rural area is presented, given that 11.7% of the rural population has access to electricity, one of the country's lowest coverage indicators. In Vichada, there is no provision for the Gas service domiciliary. Low-income rural households rely on more accessible and affordable firewood for heating and cooking with high health, environmental, economic, and social costs. The yearly demand for firewood to support cooking in the department of Vichada is estimated as 66,4000 tons, which would incur an estimated deforestation of 700 ha of wood (analogy from Sagastume, 2022). Regarding communications, only 5.2% of the population has internet service in urban areas, and only 11.8% of its urban inhabitants count on this service (Vichada, 2020).
Burning pastures is a common practice in the Orinoquía region that the ranchers make to keep vegetation young, fresh, non-woody, and palatable for the animals. The GHG inventory of Colombia estimates that fires can generate approximately 1% of the emissions in the Orinoquía (IDEAM, 2017). Rondon et al. (2000) estimated that 41% of CH4 emissions and 35% of N2O emissions occur through the cause of burning.
The main health problems in Vichada are acute diarrhea, respiratory infection, tuberculosis, and perinatal mortality. The causes of these diseases are associated with poor drinking water quality, firewood cooking, low vaccination coverage levels, poverty, and difficulty accessing health services (Vichada, 2020).
Rational, Rotational, Regenerative (RRR) Project
Regenerative grazing is an element of climate-smart livestock production whose main intent is to build soil health by managing livestock on perennial and annual forages (Pasture Project, 2021). The RRR grazing system also includes the plantation of protein banks based mainly on legumes & herbaceous, flower, fruit, and wood trees to support human, animal, and ecosystem health, livestock profitability, and community and food system resilience. Livestock rotates from sector to sector in a systematic, holistic approach that benefits animals and vegetation while capturing CO2 and N2 into the soil and producing CH4 and biofertilizers in a digestor.
The RRR grazing system provides a carbon sink in the livestock industry by reducing emissions and sequestration of carbon and nitrogen while improving livestock nutrition and enhancing people's living conditions. The RRR system is also characterized by:
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High stock densities (up to 10 heads/ha), frequent rotation, and long recovery periods for paddocks
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Low to no synthetic inputs or tillage
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Increased diversity of plants, animals, and microbial life
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Generation of revenue to build viable farm businesses and compensate all labor fairly
Several aspects were considered to enhance cattle food nutrition and improve the productivity of livestock exploitation in the plains of Vichada:
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Improve soil composition and treat acidity by adding mineral amendment.
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Select the most appropriate pastures using a pilot test of 11 grasses planted in one hectare each.
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Plant Cuba-22 grass as the main source of nutrition during the transient period and as a supplement during the steady-state period.
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Plant trees for shadow (eucalyptus, acacia) and fruit trees (marañón, mango, and guanabana).
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Plant protein bank species such as Perennial vine Kudzu (Pueraria phaseoloides), Matarratón (Gliricidia sepium), Botón de Oro (Tithonia diversifolia), Melina (Gmelina arborea), Leucaena (Leucocephala leucocephala), and Moringa Oleifera (Fig. 2).
Water Management
Keyline system developed in the late 1940s (Yeomans, 1993) was used as the basis for hydraulic operations. The keyline water management aims to slow, sink, and spread rainwater by relieving compaction, opening pore space in compacted soil, and distributing excess water towards drier parts of the landscape. It works following the keyline with a subsoil plow to create mini drainage channels in the subsoil rips. The benefits of implementing keyline design in the RRR system are:
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Increase land water use efficiency and availability.
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Support the capture, storage, and utilization of precipitation.
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More even distribution of rainfall across the site.
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Reduce flooding and drought risk.
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Increase oxygen, nutrient and, water infiltration.
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Fracturing of hardpans creating a deeper rhizosphere and reducing compaction.
Iso-lines for rainwater management were initially obtained using GPS real time kinematic (RTK) technologies available at Google Earth Pro technology (Fig. 3), then calibrated in the field. The water resource was driven by the keyline-design implemented in the radial module from a natural lake located outside the radial using a hydraulic pump. The water was transported in underground flowlines for irrigation of grass, plants, and drinking water for the animals.
Cattle management and Soil Regeneration Phases.
Cattle in the RRR system will be managed using ultra high stock density (UHSD) grazing, which is usually expressed in kilograms of live weight per hectare at a given moment. Depending on the environment and forages, UHSDs are usually more than 112,000 kg/ha, with some producers exceeding 1,120,848 kg/ha. The proposed RRR system will handle a concentration of 1,000 heads/ha, about 350,000 kg/ha.
There are two distinguished phases for cattle management in the RRR system, a transient period for soil enhancement and, a steady state period.
Transient period
Given the poor nutrition characteristics of the plains of Vichada, soil will be regenerated before perennial pasture is established. Livestock will be brought into each sector and apply the cattle-majada concept to establish the permanent grassland. In this practice, a herd of cattle is kept during the night for several days in a restricted area to accumulate waste that enhances the soil. Manure and urine will provide nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and micronutrients such as calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. The principal source of food for livestock during this period will be Cuba-22 cutting grass silo. Legumes and Boton de Oro will be also available for two periods of one hour each. Each paddock is split into three subsectors of one hectare; the 1,000 heads of cattle will be limited to one hectare for five days before it is moved to the next subsector. During this time, the cattle will release 150 tons of manure and 70,000 liters of urine which are sources of fertilization of fodder area planted with grass. This waste will be incorporated using mechanical methods, preserving as much as possible the integrity of the soil by implementing “soft plowing” techniques. Livestock will rotate from sector to sector until the soil of all 32 sectors is enhanced. After 90 days for maturating and stabilization of manure and urine combined with an additional two tons/ha of an organic-mineral amendment enriched with microorganisms, a new pasture will be established with the most appropriate specie determined during the grass pilot test.
Organic-mineral amendment composition based on laboratory tests:
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50% Californian worm humus;
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50% mineral mixture of dolomite (50%), gypsum (25%), and phosphoric rock (25%).
Microorganisms have been selected to meet different purposes:
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Azotobacter chroococcum, pseudomonas fluorescens and azospirillum brasilense for plant development.
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Trichoderma harzianum and purpuricillium lilacinus for soil enhancement.
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Beauveria bassiana, metarhizium anisopliae, and paecilomyces lilacinus as biological insecticide.
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Mycorrhizal to draw more nutrients and water to the soil and, for N2 fixation.
It will take 15 days to enhance each sector of three hectares or 480 days (16 months) to improve the soil of the 32 sectors (full radial).
Steady-State. Once grassland is established livestock is left in each paddock of three hectares per day before it is moved to the next paddock. Electrical tape is used to limit to one hectare of grazing area. After the first grazing, which takes approximately three hours, the protein bank on the left-hand side of the paddock is open for cattle to eat for a limited period. Legumes in high proportions can induce a rumen disorder referred to as frothy bloat. The protein bank is closed after 45 minutes, and the electrical tape is moved to provide access to an additional one hectare of fresh pasture. After 32 days, the livestock is brought back to the first paddock, where the cycle begins again. Once in paddock one, livestock is fed with protein bank from the right side to allow an optimum recovery time of 64 days to the protein bank on the left.
Circular Bioeconomy
In a circular bioeconomy, biowaste is a resource for organic soil improvement, fertilizers, and biobased products. In this climate-smart system, manure is the raw matter to produce biofuels and biofertilizers utilizing anaerobic digesters and vermiculture.
Anaerobic digesters use fermentation to break down organic matter to extract biogas, a mixture of CH4 and CO2 used to replace natural gas for cooking, electricity generation, and vehicle fuel. The digester byproducts are liquid and solid biofertilizers used to irrigate trees and grass for internal biofertilizer consumption. Among different types of anaerobic biodigesters, the tubular polyethylene digester is easier to install and maintain and, more affordable for low-income communities (Ferrer, 2018) like Cumaribo.
Manure is fed to selected earthworms to compost it into organic fertilizer called Humus. Californian red worms can multiply up to 512 times during an active life, while a common earthworm can multiply only 4 to 6 times during life (Fig. 4). Vermiculture heavily influences nutrient cycling and increases resistance to fungal disease and crop pathogens.
Targets of the Business Model
The business model is simplified in a framework that outlines four pillars with specific and measurable annual Targets:
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Forest, Soils & Animals
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Organically improve soils quality
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Plant at least 10,000 trees and, 100,000 legumes for protein banks per radial module.
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Improve animal life quality and efficiency.
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Protect biodiversity
2. Bioenergy and Biofertilizers
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Produce at least 10,000 tons of biofertilizers from manure using vermiculture
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Install biodigesters to generate biogas and biofertilizer from manure
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Lower OPEX: replace chemical fertilizer
3. Climate
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Install a climate-smart station to monitor weather factors
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Capture at least 3,000 tons of CO2 through photosynthesis per radial module
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Manage manure to reduce CH4 and N2O emissions
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Plant legumes to capture and fix N2 in the soil
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Get certified for carbon credits with a credited corporation
4. Technology and Partnership and Community
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Supply clean energy to the community
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Apply technology to monitor operations.
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Design an environmentally friendly hydraulic management
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Partner with local associations and government entities