Assessing and Mapping Changes, in Space and Time, of Coffee Lands of the State of Minas Gerais in Brazil

Coffee is one of Brazil’s most important cash crops due to the incomes generated by exportation. The state of Minas Gerais’ production, which represents approximately half of the total national product, is concentrated mainly in its southern and western regions. Although the south remains the main production region, the greatest expansion of the crop has been observed in the west. Due to the changes observed and, as a requirement for future planning, it is important to establish efficient methodologies to map and monitor these fields, with the possibility of an easier periodical updating of the information. The objective of this work was to evaluate the changes, in space and time, of the areas occupied by coffee plantations of Minas Gerais using geotechnologies. Land Use Maps of representative study areas were generated for the years 2000 and 2003 using the software SPRING and Landsat images. The results of the quantitative comparison of these maps indicated different behaviours for the regions. In São Sebastião do Paraíso and Machado, both in the south, a decrease of the areas occupied by coffee was observed, whereas in Patrocínio, western part of the state, the area occupied by the crop remained unaltered. In Três Pontas, one of the most important production areas of the southern region of Minas Gerais, the area with coffee fields increased. Remote sensing and geographic information systems were efficient in the evaluation of the spatial-temporal dynamics of coffee areas of Minas Gerais, providing information that can subsidize regional land use planning.