THE Soy is a legume that is part of the diet of the Chinese, who were the first to cultivate it in Asia. Altogether, it took them about 3,000 years to expand the product on the continent.
At the beginning of the 20th century, it started to be commercialized and produced in the USA and, since then, this legume has expanded worldwide, occupying a prominent place in the market agribusiness (agribusiness) in the world.
In Brazil, soy was introduced by Japanese immigrants who brought it in 1908, but Brazil had rural production turned to coffee, so soy did not occupy space.
The effective development of soy only took place in the 70s, driven by the oil industry and the needs imposed by the world market.
Soy production in Brazil is not traditionally in the internal interest, but an imposition determined by external groups that dictate what we should and should not produce.
The Midwest emerged as a new production option for soybeans, starting in the 70s, when there was a mechanization in agriculture. The cerrado, previously seen as poor soil, then gained a new look, as inputs emerged that corrected the changes or deficiencies of substances, making the soil suitable for the practice of agriculture. Another favorable reason for the expansion of soy was the flatter relief.
The Midwest is currently the second largest soybean producer in the country, occupying a geopolitical condition that favors production. The production of soy has reached, each year, increasingly higher production rates, resulting from the constant insertion of technology that ignores the issues of soil and climate.
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In Brazil, there is an important agricultural research center, called EMBRAPA (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), which developed the condition of adaptation of soy in the cerrado, without tell the various researches aimed at the development of agriculture, such as the development of pest-immune seeds, adapted to the climate, generation of more productive plants, among others.
There are many ongoing and completed researches.
In the 1990s, soybeans occupied the place of the main agricultural product, although there was occasionally a decline in value. This, however, has not stopped producers from cultivating it.
Currently, soy has expanded to the south of Maranhão and Pará, showing that production The soybean monoculture left the South and Southeast, migrated to the Midwest and now begins a new cycle in other areas.
It is undeniable that soy is a generator of wealth, but such wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few.
It should be taken into account that this type of production causes serious environmental problems such as: loss of soil, removal of vegetation original, soil and water pollution, extinction of springs, death of wild animals that consume cereals with chemical substances, between others.
Eduardo de Freitas
Graduated in Geography
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
FREITAS, Eduardo de. "Soybean Expansion in Brazil"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/brasil/a-expansao-soja-no-brasil.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.