the economist - brazil - how to feed the world

8/12/2019 The Economist - Brazil - How to Feed the World

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Brazil's agricultural miracle - How to feed the world

The emerging conventional wisdom about world farming is

gloomy. There is an alternative

Aug 26th 2010

THE world is planting a vigorous new crop: agro-pessimism or !earthat man"ind will not #e a#le to !eed itsel! e$cept #% wrec"ing theenvironment& The current harvest o! this variet% o! whine will #e a#umper one& 'atural disasters(!ire in )ussia and !lood in *a"istan

which are the world+s !i!th- and eighth-largest wheat producersrespectivel%(have added a ,i#lical colouring to an un!olding !ear o! !amine& ,% 200 world grain output will have torise #% hal! and meat production must dou#le to meet demand& And that cannot easil% happen #ecause growth ingrain %ields is !lattening out there is little e$tra !armland and renewa#le water is running short&

The world has #een here #e!ore& .n 1/6 *aul Ehrlich a althusian wrote that the #attle to !eed all o! humanit% isover .n the 1/0s and 1/30s hundreds o! millions o! people will starve to death& 4ive %ears later in The 5imits torowth the 7lu# o! )ome 8a group o! #usiness people and academics9 argued that the world was running out o! rawmaterials and that societies would pro#a#l% collapse in the 21st centur%&

A %ear a!ter The 5imits to rowth appeared however and at a time when soaring oil prices seemed to con!irm the7lu# o! )ome+s worst !ears a countr% which was then a large net !ood importer decided to change the wa% it !armedriven partl% #% !ear that it would not #e a#le to import enough !ood it decided to e$pand domestic production

through scienti!ic research not su#sidies& .nstead o! tr%ing to protect !armers !rom international competition(asmuch o! the world still does(it opened up to trade and let ine!!icient !arms go to the wall& This was all the moreremar"a#le #ecause most o! the countr% was then regarded as un!it !or agricultural production&

The countr% was ,ra;il& .n the !our decades since it has #ecome the !irst tropical agricultural giant and the !irst tochallenge the dominance o! the #ig !ive !ood e$porters 8America 7anada Australia Argentina and the European! course there are m%riad reasons wh% its wa% o! !arming will not translate easil% nota#l% that its success wasachieved at a time when the climate was relativel% sta#le whereas now uncertaint% looms& =till the #asic ingredientso! ,ra;il+s success(agricultural research capital-intensive large !arms openness to trade and to new !armingtechni?ues(should wor" elsewhere&

Plant the plains, save the forests

Third ,ra;il shows a di!!erent wa% o! stri"ing a #alance #etween !arming and the environment& The countr% is accusedo! promoting agriculture #% ra;ing the Ama;on !orest& And it is true that there has #een too much destructive !armingthere& ,ut most o! the revolution o! the past @0 %ears has ta"en place in the cerrado hundreds o! miles awa%'orman ,orlaug who is o!ten called the !ather o! the reen )evolution said the #est wa% to save the world+simperilled ecos%stems would #e to grow so much !ood elsewhere that no#od% would need to touch the naturawonders& ,ra;il shows that can #e done&.t also shows that change will not come a#out #% itsel!& 4our decades ago the countr% !aced a !arm crisis andresponded with decisive #oldness& The world is !acing a slow-motion !ood crisis now& .t should learn !rom ,ra;il&


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Brazilian agriculture

The miracle of the cerrado

Brazil has revolutionised its own farms. an it do the same for

others!

Aug 26th 2010 7)EAB *.Arganisation !or Economic7o-operation and evelopment 8>E79 state support accounted !or &K o! total !arm income in ,ra;il during 200-0That compares with 12K in America 26K !or the >E7 average and 2/K in the European


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a#le to sustain a large cattle herd 8it does not necessaril% have to #e e!!icient #ut capa#le o! improvement9D one that isproductive without massive state su#sidiesD and ma%#e one with lots o! savannah since the #iggest single agricultural !ailurein the world during past decades has #een tropical A!rica and an%thing that might help A!ricans grow more !ood would #eespeciall% valua#le& .n other words %ou would descri#e ,ra;il&

,ra;il has more spare !armland than an% other countr% 8see chart 9& The 4A> puts its total potential ara#le land at over@00m hectaresD onl% 0m is #eing used& ,ra;ilian o!!icial !igures put the availa#le land somewhat lower at 00m hectaresEither wa% it is a vast amount& >n the 4A>+s !igures ,ra;il has as much spare !armland as the ne$t two countries together8)ussia and America9& .t is o!ten accused o! levelling the rain!orest to create its !arms #ut hardl% an% o! this new land lies inAma;oniaD most is cerrado&

,ra;il also has more water& According to the


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recentl% ,ra;il has also #een importing geneticall% modi!ied so%a seeds and is now the world+s second-largest user o! a!ter the

the economist - brazil - how to feed the world

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