Large scale commercial farming Mato Grosso Amazonas – Brazil

The changing frontier

Before the 1980s the whole of Mato Grosso was rainforest

Home for many indigenous tribes like the Xingu

Since the 1980’s there has been deforestation

Every year 25000 square kilometres of rainforest is cleared in Brazil. That’s half the size of Slovakia every year.

Why is this happening?

Soya, Cotton, Cattle and Sugar Soya is a very popular crop to grow in Mato Grosso. The soya beans can be crushed and made into animal feed or for human consumption and the oil used as a cooking oil or increasingly as a biodiesel for vehicles. Other popular crops are cotton and sugar cane. Also much of the land is cleared for cattle ranching.

214.3 World Total 0.5 Italy 1.7 Bolivia 3.0 Canada 3.5 Paraguay 6.6 India 17.4 China 38.3 Argentina 52.7 Brazil 83.9 United States (million metric tons) Top Soybean Producers in 2005

The Systems Approach Farming can be seen as a system. The inputs are processed and outputs are produced. Some of those outputs feedback into the system. Inputs Processes Outputs Feedback

Traditional Hunter Gathering sunlight, hunting, basic tools, small subsistence cultivation, nuts, precipitation, twine, medicines and other forest products, growing season, grubs, forest cover, inherited knowledge, local seeds and natural fertilizer, meat e.g. wild boar, high biodiversity, gathering, berries, Inputs Processes Outputs Feedback

Soya Farming fertilizer, soya oil, sun, harvesting, rain, labour, soya meal, chemical pesticides, capital, flat land, herbicides, soil, planting, tillage, machinery, eutrophication, seeds, cleared land, animal feed INPUTS Physical / Human Processes Outputs Feedback

Issues concerning Mato Grosso Do the economic gains from soya farming compensate for the loss of rainforest? Can the benefits that rainforests bring be quantified? And paid for? (payment for environmental services) What would be the effect of growing GM soya? What role do indigenous tribes play in rainforest management? What are the impacts of deforestation? (enviro/eco/soc/scales) Is soya farming in Mato Grosso sustainable? What are the alternatives?