It takes a little over half an hour for the flames to devour Pedro Gomes's field at the edge of the Amazon rainforest, clearing the land for him to plant crops.

Agricultural fires like this are burning through the world's biggest rainforest at an alarming rate, according to environmentalists using satellite data from Brazil's space agency, INPE, to track the destruction.

A donkey stands tied up next to a burnt area of an Amazon rainforest reserve in the Brazilian state of Para, where farmers lighting fires to clear land have outraged conservationists
A donkey stands tied up next to a burnt area of an Amazon rainforest reserve in the Brazilian state of Para, where farmers lighting fires to clear land have outraged conservationists AFP / CARL DE SOUZA

But Gomes, a 48-year-old farmer with a cowboy hat and leathery brown skin, smiles as he watches his field go up in smoke.

"Can you believe the INPE's satellites register this as a fire?" he says, as two donkeys tied up nearby watch the flames.

His blaze, he insists, is not a fire but a "queimada," the traditional agricultural practice of clearing land by burning it during the dry season.

A farmer walks holding a scythe used for cutting branches -- many locals insist it is a traditional agricultural practice to clear land by burning it during the dry season
A farmer walks holding a scythe used for cutting branches -- many locals insist it is a traditional agricultural practice to clear land by burning it during the dry season AFP / CARL DE SOUZA

"How do they expect us to plant without burning?" says Gomes (not his real name).

His small 48-hectare (120-acre) farm is one of many burning around Novo Progresso, in northern Brazil.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is accused of encouraging people to start more blazes with his gung-ho rhetoric on developing the Amazon
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is accused of encouraging people to start more blazes with his gung-ho rhetoric on developing the Amazon AFP / CARL DE SOUZA

The town has been shrouded in smoke for several days as farmers increased the amount of fires lit in the area.

The fuel for the fires are trees felled to clear forest for farming and ranching. Environmentalists say the fires are also fueled by the lack of consequences for those who illegally seize land and clear it.

AFP reporters traveled thousands of kilometers along roads in the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Para, where large ranches with charred trees flank the roads and newly deforested land was waiting to be burned.

Aerial view of a burning area of Amazon rainforest reserve, south of Novo Progresso in Para state, on August 16, 2020
Aerial view of a burning area of Amazon rainforest reserve, south of Novo Progresso in Para state, on August 16, 2020 AFP / CARL DE SOUZA

Last year, the Amazon was devastated by tens of thousands of fires that sent a thick haze of black smoke 2,500 kilometers (15,000 miles) south to Sao Paulo, causing international outcry.

This year, President Jair Bolsonaro's government is keen to avoid a repeat.

Idelia Lima Lisboa, wife of a farmer who set fire to rainforest around his property, tries to clear a path of dry leaves as the fire approaches their house
Idelia Lima Lisboa, wife of a farmer who set fire to rainforest around his property, tries to clear a path of dry leaves as the fire approaches their house AFP / CARL DE SOUZA

The far-right president took office in 2019 with calls to roll back environmental protections in the Amazon to develop mining and agriculture.

But more recently, he has tried to show he is taking action on deforestation, particularly after coming under pressure from the business sector to improve Brazil's image on protecting the Amazon, a vital resource for curbing climate change.

In July, Bolsonaro banned agricultural burning for 120 days, and has deployed the army to fight the problem.

An illegal fire set by a farmer to clear his land spreads through the Amazon rainforest in Para state
An illegal fire set by a farmer to clear his land spreads through the Amazon rainforest in Para state AFPTV / Florian PLAUCHEUR

August and September, the peak of the crisis last year, will be critical months to determine whether the measure has worked, as the government claims.

In the 12 months to July 2020, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased 34.5 percent year-on-year, according to INPE data.

However, the government was quick to point out that the trend improved in July, when deforestation decreased by 36 percent compared to July 2019.

Last year, Novo Progresso was at the center of an episode known as "Fire Day," on August 10, when local farmers allegedly burned large amounts of land in a coordinated action.

The point was purportedly to send a message to Bolsonaro: that they were holding him to his campaign rhetoric to roll back regulations protecting the Amazon.

Some dispute that account, however.

"The news media and environmental groups made that up," says Agamenon Menezes, the president of the Novo Progresso farmers' association.

But environmentalists say fires rarely start naturally in the rainforest, because it is so wet. Many accuse Bolsonaro of encouraging people to set more blazes with his gung-ho rhetoric on developing the Amazon.

That includes on indigenous reservations and other protected land seized by squatters and speculators.

"People who seize protected lands mark their territory by razing the forest and putting cattle to pasture," says Beto Verissimo, founder of conservation group Imazon.

"And once they cut the trees, the only way to convert the land into fields or pasture is to burn."

Environmentalists say the budgets and staff of government agencies responsible for stopping deforestation are being gutted.

Environment Minister Ricardo Salles acknowledged in a recent interview with AFP that those agencies had a staffing shortfall of 50 percent, though he blamed the problem on previous administrations.