The agreste ( Portuguese pronunciation: [aˈɡɾɛstʃi] , "countryside") is a narrow zone of Brazil in the states of Rio Grande do Norte , Paraíba , Pernambuco , Alagoas , Sergipe and Bahia between the coastal forest zona da mata and the semiarid sertão . The agreste fades out after it reaches Rio Grande do Norte due to the break of the mountain-chain that blocks air currents from the Atlantic ocean. This barrier is what induces high rainfalls in the coastal Atlantic forest zone .
4-559: Most of the agreste is hilly, its hills becoming higher at south, except near the narrow valley of São Francisco River. This land is mostly used for mixed farming , prevailing fruits, of which melons have especial importance. Like the sertão, the agreste is frequently affected by drought, though generally with less severe effects. Only some highland regions mostly in Pernambuco , where cities like Garanhuns and Triunfo are located, are able to reach temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius for
8-532: A part of the year, usually coinciding with the south-American winter. The climate is hot and sub-humid, with rainfall in the area's principal city of Campina Grande averaging about 700 millimetres per year - ranging from less than 10 millimetres in October and November to about 120 millimetres in May and June. Nonfiction Fiction Mixed farming Mixed farming is a type of farming which involves both
12-496: The growing of crops and the raising of livestock . Such agriculture occurs across Asia and in countries such as India , Malaysia , Indonesia , Afghanistan , South Africa , China , Central Europe , Nordic countries , Canada , and Russia . Though at first it mainly served domestic consumption, countries such as the United States and Japan now use it for commercial purposes. The cultivation of crops alongside
16-515: The rearing of animals for meat or eggs or milk defines mixed farming. For example, a mixed farm may grow cereal crops , such as wheat or rye , and also keep cattle , sheep , pigs or poultry . Often the dung from the cattle serves to fertilize the crops. Also some of the crops might be used as fodder for the livestock. Before horses were commonly used for haulage, many young male cattle on such farms were often not butchered as surplus for meat but castrated and used as bullocks to haul
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