Brazil's Economy
The Cerrado Farm Revolution
How Brazil's research agency Embrapa made the acidic Cerrado savanna farmable, turning Brazil from a food importer into a farm superpower.
The Cerrado is a vast tropical savanna in central Brazil. Its soils were once considered too acidic to farm.
Embrapa
- The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) was founded in 1973.
- Scientists found ways to add lime to reduce soil acidity.
- They bred soybean varieties suited to tropical conditions.
- They developed no-till farming and nitrogen-fixing bacteria that reduced fertiliser needs.
Results
- Brazil went from importing food in the 1970s to being one of the world’s largest farm exporters.
- The Cerrado became a centre of soy, corn and cotton production.
Economic lesson
Public agricultural research can have enormous returns.
Environmental cost
Large areas of Cerrado vegetation were cleared, reducing biodiversity and affecting water systems, raising concerns similar to those about the Amazon.
Comparison with India
India’s ICAR and Green Revolution research played a similar role in raising yields.
A farmer in Mato Grosso spreads lime over his land, making acidic soil productive enough to grow two crops a year of soy and corn.
Research by Embrapa made the Cerrado productive.
- The Cerrado's acidic soils were once seen as unfarmable.
- Embrapa (1973) developed liming, tropical soy and no-till.
- Brazil became a farm export superpower.
- Clearing the Cerrado raised environmental concerns.
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