CLIMATE ZONING FOR THE CULTIVATION OF AFRICAN MAHOGANY SPECIES IN BRAZIL

ABSTRACT African mahogany is the common name given to different species of the genus Khaya. They are tree species native to the African continent, which have a wood quality that allows their noble use in making fine furniture, and in the civil and naval industries. Currently, African mahogany cultivation has received notoriety in Brazil and given its climatic conditions. The country has great potential for planting these species. The purpose of this work was to identify climatic aptitude zones for African mahogany in Brazil. Based on the Kppen classification and in the means of relative air temperature and annual rainfall, a base map interpolation was performed to select regions suitable and restricted to planting and adequate growth of African mahogany species. In general, the regions that presented temperatures between 22 °C and 30 °C were considered of high fitness, while temperature values below 14 °C restricts plantations growth. Regarding to precipitation, areas considered to be of high aptitude have between 700 to 3,000 mm.year-1, extreme values may indicate regions of low suitability and restricted to the cultivation of African mahogany. From the climatic characteristics, it was determined that about 60% of the Brazilian area was of high fitness, between 16% and 32% of medium fitness, and less than 20% as low fitness. The Northeastern semi-arid region proved to be restricted to the cultivation of these species due to the low annual rainfall and a few places in the South region was also restricted due to low temperatures and risks of frost.