Crop-climate feedbacks boost U.S. maize and soy yields

U.S. maize and soy production have increased rapidly since the mid-20th century. While global warming has raised temperatures in most regions over this time period, trends in extreme heat have been smaller over U.S. croplands, reducing crop-damaging high temperatures and benefiting maize and soy yields. Here we show that agricultural intensification has created a crop-climate feedback in which increased crop production cools local climate, further raising crop yields. We find that maize and soy production trends have driven cooling effects approximately as large as greenhouse gas induced warming trends in extreme heat over the central U.S. and substantially reduce them over the southern U.S., benefiting crops in all regions. This reduced warming has boosted maize and soy yields by 3.3 (2.7 – 3.9; 13.7 – 20.0%) and 0.6 (0.4 – 0.7; 7.5 – 13.7%) bu/ac/decade, respectively, between 1981 and 2019. Our results suggest that if maize and soy production growth were to stagnate, the ability of the crop-climate feedback to mask warming would fade, exposing U.S. crops to more harmful heat extremes.

Demand-Driven Efforts to Stop Deforestation in Brazil's Soy Sector are Unlikely to be Offset by Cross-Border Leakage

Supply chain policies that leverage the upstream market power of trading companies and importing countries offer great promise to address forest clearing1,2 in regions of rapid commodity expansion but weak forest governance3,4. Yet leakage—when deforestation is not eliminated but instead pushed to other regions—is a potentially major but unquantified factor that could dilute the global effectiveness of regionally successful supply chain policies5,6. We find substantial domestic leakage rates (43-50%) induced by zero deforestation policy implementation in Brazil’s soy sector, but insignificant cross-border leakage (<3%) due to the interdependence of soy production in the U.S. and Brazil. Currently implemented zero-deforestation policies in the Brazilian soy sector offset 0.9% of global and 4% of Brazilian deforestation from 2011-2016. However, completely eliminating deforestation from the supply chains of all firms exporting soy to the EU or China over the same period could have reduced global deforestation by 2% and Brazilian deforestation by 9%. If major tropical commodity importers adopt policies that require traders to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains, as currently proposed in the EU, it could help bend the curve on global forest loss.

Cattle Grazing and Forest Devastation in Brazil

This article examines the history and present-day dynamics of deforestation and cattle grazing in Brazil’s Amazon. It discusses the long-standing strategic alliance between agribusiness and the Brazilian state, as well as the role of livestock grazing in Brazil’s developmental ideology of the frontier. It shows how the livestock industry is enlaced with soy production in the deterritorialization and deforestation of the Amazon, as well as the legalized theft of indigenous lands. It places these Brazilian dynamics into larger international context and analyses the class structure and state capture of Brazil’s agro-industrial sector.

Etiology, Epidemiology and Management of Asian Soybean Rust (ASR) in Brazil and Vulnerability of Chemical Control of Specific without Multisite Fungicides

Brazil is the first soybean producer in the world, and the largest exporter. In the 2019/20 harvest, the country produced about 124.85 million tons, representing 30% of world production. Global soy production for 2019/20 reached 337.9 million tons. Asian soybean rust (ASR) is the most pathogen on soybean in Brazil in nowadays. Target spot and Septoria leaf spot plus white mold complete these scenarios. ASR emerged in Brazil in 1979. The use of fungicides in the soybean crop in Brazil intensified after the master of 2002 with the resurgence of soybean rust, where the use of triazoles intensified. The massive sprays to pathogen control reached 3.5 sprays per season. In 2006, the first reports of loss of sensitivity of the fungus to the group appeared, notably for the fungicide flutriafol and tebuconazole used in many situations in a curative way or to eradicate the fungus. From that moment on, the productive system sought to use triazoles and strobilurins. In 2011 came the first reports of loss of sensitivity of the fungus in the group of strobilurins. This fact was due to the use of pyraclostrobin in the vegetative phase of soybeans without protection by multisite. That same year, the introduction of the active ingredients in copper oxychloride, mancozeb and chlorothalonil took place in Brazil. In 2015, the first carboxamides ((benzovindiflupyr) (solatenol and fluxpyroxade) associated in triple mode with triazoles and strobilurins were launched on the Brazilian market. Due to the specific mode of action in the metabolism of the fungus (biosynthesis of ergosterol (triazoles), mitochondrial respiration in the cytochrome oxidase enzyme complex - QOIs (strobilurins) and succin dehydrogenase - SDHIs (carboxamides), the need for their association in the sprayings was seen. To multisite (cuprics, dithiocarbamates and nitriles). For the sustainable management of the disease in Brazil, control strategies are recommended, such as the use of systemic fungicides, with a specific biochemical mechanism of action with the adoption of tank mix with multisite, adoption of cultural practices (sanitary emptiness) and sowing schedule and the use of varieties with quantitative resistance (partial or horizontal resistance). These measures will guarantee the sustainability of the culture and the useful life of systemic fungicides or specific sites.

The Impact of the PSR Rural Insurance Program on the Agricultural Productivity in the Matopiba Region of Brazil

The present work aims to analyze the impact of a government subsidy program of rural insurance in Brazil, (called the Programa de Subvenção ao Prêmio de Seguro Rural - PSR), on the productivity of insured producers in the MATOPIBA region of the country, which encompasses four Brazilian states, Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia, between the years 2008 to 2019. For this, municipalities were selected that had at least one insured producer throughout the analyzed period. The variables used were the number of producers, the number of insurance policies, the planted area, the productivity obtained and the insured financial amount of the producers. The methodological procedure was based on Auto-regressive Vectors (VAR) for panel data. The results showed a concentration, of all the variables used in the research, in the state of Bahia, mainly in the municipalities of Formosa do Rio Preto and São Desidério, whose main economic activity is soy production. It was also found that the impulse response functions on productivity obtained through a shock in the other variables, except the planted area variable, the others showed positive initial (short-term) responses until the second year. The average time for responses to smooth over time occurs from the sixth year onwards.

Chemical Profile and Chemometric Analysis of Genetically Modified Soybeans Produced in the Triângulo Mineiro Region (MG), Brazil

Soy production in Brazil is an important factor for the agro-industrial, economic, and social development of the country. The expansion of soy in the Brazilian territory is mainly due to the incorporation of new genetic characteristics into cultivars that granted resistance to the Cerrado conditions and to herbicides. Currently, Brazilian soy production is the result of genetically modified cultivars. Studies regarding the chemical composition of soybeans show that qualitative and quantitative variations can occur, depending on the region of production. This work aimed to investigate the chemical composition of soybeans produced in different cities of the Triângulo Mineiro region/MG, Brazil (Harvest 2017/2018) and stored in three warehouses located in the city of Uberaba/MG. The grain analysis was made by liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-MS-ESI). The classes of metabolites identified from methanolic extraction were organic acids, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, sugars, amino acids, dipeptides, nitrogenous bases, nucleosides, sphingolipids, and fatty acids. The isoflavones genistein, daidzein, glycitein, genistin, acetyldaidzin, and acetylgenistin were identified in soybeans from the three warehouses. The flavonoid eriodictyol-O-hexoside was also found. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) from the mass spectrum data obtained by direct injection in the negative and positive modes evidenced the well-defined separation of three groups, indicating that there was variance among the soy samples from each warehouse. The samples from warehouses 1 and 3 showed greater similarity in the Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) in negative mode, while in positive mode, the samples from warehouses 2 and 3 presented greater similarity.

Macht in einer globalisierten landwirtschaftlichen Produktion

By virtue of the soy boom Argentina, recovered faster from the economic crisis than any other country. But who has benefited from the abundance of this resource in such a globalised and hightech form of agriculture as that in Argentina? Addressing this question with qualitative research methods, this book analyses the power relations in Argentinian soy production and in conflicts related to it. The author uses concepts of global production networks and amplifies them with sociological perspectives on power. Her results show that global corporations are increasingly dominating soy production, which leads her to the conclusion that the soy boom is not suitable for generating wealth in Argentina in the long term.