Brazil is the largest soybean exporter on the planet
Brazil is the largest exporter of soybeans on the planet, having sent just over 86 million tonnes to other countries in 2022.
The figures are from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The data show that Brazilian farmers have leaped into the world market.
In 60 years, Brazil went from less than 100,000 tonnes of soybeans to the current volume.
The expansion occurred as the national farmers mastered the cultivation techniques.
The pillar of this work was the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa).
In partnership with farmers, Embrapa developed plants adapted to the cerrado, which allowed planting in the Midwest.
Today, the region is the largest producer in the country.
“The soils of the cerrados are acid and poor in nutrients,” comments Rodrigo Justus, legal and environmental consultant of the Sustainability Coordination of the National Agriculture Confederation.
He explains that cultivation in these areas would not be possible without soil correction. For this, developing “a better knowledge, to build soil fertility was necessary.
Justus also commented that, in the past, the region did not attract rural producers.
“The cerrado was not worth anything because it gave, at most, a free-range cattle, raised extensively,” he recalls.
“Today, two crops a year are planted there. This is possible because soybeans are planted in the Brazilian tropical farming system, which loads the soil with nitrogen, absorbed later when corn is planted.”
With information from Revista Oeste
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