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This
document offers an overview of the expansion of soybean
cultivation into forest and cerrado (bush savannah)
biomes in Brazil. It presents the situation in three
cases: the Uruçuí region in the state
of Piauí, the state of Mato Grosso and the
Humaitá region in the state of Amazonas. Information
is based on field and desk research carried out in
Brazil and Germany in 2003.
Soybeans
Soybeans are very
suitable for capital-intensive, large-scale cultivation.
As soybeans yield 18 percent oil and 79 percent meal
after processing, the market for soybean products
is mostly driven by the livestock feed industry. Brazil
(42 million tons in 2002 or 23 percent of world production)
is the second largest producer after the United States
(74.3 million tons or 41 percent), ahead of Argentina
(30 million tons or 17 percent) and China (16.9 million
tons or nine percent). World production in 2002 totalled
180 million tons1.
Rapid expansion of
soy cultivation in Brazil started in the early 1970s.
Starting with three million hectares in 1970, planted
area expanded continuously, reaching a record harvest
of 52 million tons on 18.5 million hectares in 2003,
an increase of over two million hectares compared
to 2002. Brazil's soybean producers, scientists, agricultural
politicians and traders consider a total area of 100
million hectares suitable for planting soybeans2.
Brazilian industry and research agencies are striving
to challenge the role of the USA as the world's market
leader. World demand for vegetable oil and highly
valuable protein feed has grown steadily in both developing
and industrialized countries, particularly since the
BSE crisis. The price of soybean at the Chicago stock
exchange rose to $12-13 per sack (60 kilograms) in
the first half of 2003, making private and public
investment in this grain legume attractive. Harvests
in Brazil are pre-financed mainly by international
corporations like Bunge, Cargill, Dreyfus and ADM,
and by multinational fertilizer and pesticide companies
which supply technology packages at the same time.
Brazil's foreign exchange income from soybean exports
was more than $6 billion in 2002, a sum urgently needed
to service its foreign debts and stabilize its foreign
trade balance; more than $8 billion of revenue from
soybean exports are expected for 2003.
Due to the mechanized
character of cultivation, soy is planted almost exclusively
on plains offering easy access for farm machinery.
Many state governments in Brazil are aiming to convert
their sparsely populated subtropical and tropical
plains to soy production areas to boost their economies.
As there is little room for agricultural expansion
in the south and southeast of Brazil, future soybean
expansion will take place in central and northeastern
Brazil and the southern Amazon region, where cheap
land is abundant.
This expansion has
direct and indirect impact on natural habitats of
high conservation value, the livelihoods of people
and endangered species, depending on their habitats.
Problems related to rapid soybean expansion include
widespread deforestation of the cerrado and southern
Amazon forest frontier, massive pesticide application,
concentration of land into large enterprises that
force out small farmers, neglect of staple food production
for local consumption, and increasing cultivation
of genetically modified soybeans bearing risks for
the environment and human health.
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Impacts of Soybean – download
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