Law 13.695 (Articles 65 to 68) of October 24, 1968, created the National Commission for the Agronomic Study of Land (CO.N.E.A.T.) and established its main purpose as defining the technical standards for determining the productive capacity of each rural property and the national average.
CONEAT groups are not strictly basic soil cartographic units; rather, they constitute homogeneous areas defined by their productive capacity in terms of beef, mutton, and wool on the hoof (Article 65 of the aforementioned Law). This capacity is expressed by an index relative to the country's average productive capacity, which corresponds to an index of 100. For each group, the relief, parent material, the soils that compose it, and its use—among other characteristics—are indicated. The nomenclature of CONEAT groups correlates with the Soil Use and Management Zones of Uruguay (Commission for Investment and Economic Development (CIDE), 1967).
The Productivity Index (CONEAT Index) of each Parcel (Padrón) is obtained from the weighted average of the Indices of the Soil Groups that make up the Parcel, plus a percentage adjustment for the impact of freight costs to the exit point at the Port of Montevideo.
Description
CONEAT groups are not strictly basic soil cartographic units; rather, they constitute homogeneous areas defined by their productive capacity in terms of beef, mutton, and wool on the hoof (Art. 65 of Law 13695). This capacity is expressed by an index relative to the country's average productive capacity, which corresponds to an index of 100.
These groups were characterized through photointerpretation at a scale of 1:40,000, field verifications, and physical-chemical soil analyses. From a pedological standpoint, productivity is considered to be the soil's initial capacity to produce a certain yield per hectare per year, which can theoretically be expressed as a percentage of the optimal yield obtained from the soil under the most favorable conditions, using a certain defined technology. This definition of productivity implies a potential concept and encompasses all agricultural and livestock categories; there is a methodology to estimate it, applicable according to the availability of information for all categories. This can only be possible by continuing and deepening research, both in soil surveying and in agricultural and livestock production, at the level of individual categories and their integration into production systems.
The Productivity Indices correspond to 188 soil groupings (Soil Groups) of similar productivity (ranging from 0 to 263), resulting from interpreting their suitability for producing meat and wool. The description of CONEAT groups is carried out by defining the dominant and associated soils according to the Soil Classification of Uruguay, MGAP, 1976. The groups are related to the units of the Reconnaissance Soil Map of Uruguay at a scale of 1:1,000,000. For each group, some important soil properties and associated landscape characteristics are indicated. The nomenclature of CONEAT groups correlates with the Soil Use and Management Zones of Uruguay (Commission for Investment and Economic Development (CIDE), 1967). The Soil Groups are overlaid on the rural cadastre and are represented on CONEAT cartography at a scale of 1:20,000.
Newsletter
Farms, ranches and investments across Uruguay.
