Desterro do Melo is a Brazilian municipality located in the south of the state of Minas Gerais.

The city belongs to the mesoregion of Campo das Vertentes and to the microregion of Barbacena.

Desterro do Melo lies to the east of Barbacena and is connected to this regional center b MG-135.

The region is characterized by low mountains, many of which still retain natural tropical forest.

Like most of the municipalities in this region there is cultivation of coffee, bananas, rice, sugarcane, beans, and corn.