José Medeiros

This chapter examines the wide range of food produced in Brazil

When any farmer is deciding what to grow they have to take the climate into consideration. It’s
no good a farmer in northern Scotland deciding to grow oranges — the weather just isn’t good
enough. The climate in Brazil, though, is much hotter than it is in Europe and this means farmers
can grow lots of things that can’t be produced in cooler places.

As we investigate farming in Brazil we'll be asking the

following questions:

1 How important is farming in Brazil?

2 What products come from Brazilian farms?
3 What are the most common farms found in Brazil?
4 Have soybeans and beef always dominated Brazilian farming?
5 How has Brazilian farming changed over time?
How important is farming in Brazil?

Ever since European settlers arrived in Brazil, commercial farming has played an important role
in the country’s economy. Today, of course, farming is very different to that which took place in the
16th century – but it is still vital. Today, Brazil is one of the largest producers in the world of products
like coffee, sugar cane, cashew nuts and beef. Brazilian farmers also produce large amounts of
tobacco, cotton and honey. The produce that is grown in Brazil is used both within the country and
elsewhere in the world.

Chapter 8 - Farming in Brazil 1

Just like there are regional differences in British farming because of climatic conditions, so there
are differences in Brazil. In the United Kingdom farmers tend to grow crops in the south and
south east because the land is flatter and the weather is better. As you move north and north
west, where there is a higher rainfall and more mountains, many farmers rear sheep and cattle. In
Brazil, important cattle ranching regions are the Centre-West, South-East, South and in the North.
Mato Grosso is the state with the largest concentration of cattle. Brazil is also one of the largest
producers and the largest exporter of poultry in the world. It is also the third biggest producer of
pork industry in the world. Crops such as cocoa, sugar and coffee are largely grown in coastal
areas, especially in the north-east, south-east and southern regions.

D. Jeltovshi

Brazil nuts and almonds

José Medeiros
Laura Barbi

cotton plant

cattle on a brazilian ranch

Denise Kremer

José Medeiros

coffee beans ready for picking

maize growing in brazil

2 Schools’ Pack – Brazil 2009

 José Medeiros
José Alkmin
A SELECTION OF brazilian fruit and vegetables pig farmING IN BRAZIL

What products come from

Brazilian farms?

Having the advantage of a tropical climate, it

is possible for Brazilian farmers to grow a wide
range of crops. We have already mentioned

Larry Halff
some of them, but Brazil is also one of the
biggest exporters of many crops you may
not have heard of, such as jute, cassava and
soybean. Other crops are more well known, tapping rubber from trees in the forest

and include many things you will have at home

– rice, corn, coffee, oranges, apples, lemons,
rubber, nuts, grapes and pears. Brazil is the
world’s biggest producer of oranges, sugar
cane and coffee.

Look at the student tasks to find an internet

research challenge. This will help you to learn
what these crops look like and how they are used. José Medeiros

What are the most common

farms found in Brazil?
soybeans
Let’s now take a look at some of the farms that
are common in Brazil.

Soybean farming

Brazil is the world’s second largest producer

of soybeans, after the United States. Soybean
farming has been on the increase for the last
twenty years. This process has annoyed some
José Medeiros

environmentalists. You can read about the

advantages and problems of the sector in the
Soy Plants

Chapter 8 - Farming in Brazil 3

 web links at the end of this chapter. Soybean
production is Brazil’s main source of export
earnings, as the demand for soybeans is rising
throughout the world. Soybeans have several
uses. The majority of those grown in Brazil
are used to feed livestock, helping the meat
industry. Other beans are used to make flour
and oil.

José Medeiros
Brazil is responsible for almost a third of the
world’s soybean production, producing of 58.1
million tonnes in 2008. The country is also the
Soy fields world’s second biggest exporter of soybeans,
soybean meal and soybean oil. The industry
has helped create 1.4 million jobs. Nearly half
of all soybean exports from Brazil go to China.
There are many livestock farms in Brazil,
containing millions of cattle. Large amounts of
beef can be yielded from these huge ranches
and profits can be good. The ranches also
need very little labour to run, meaning that
running costs can be low. With timber and
minerals providing extra income on some of the
large ranches, large multinational companies
have invested in Brazilian land. The largest
beef exporter in the world is a Brazilian
company – JBS-Friboi.
José Medeiros

Cattle ranching in the Amazon Rainforest,

though, comes at a large environmental
Soy being Harvested

José Medeiros
José Medeiros

Farming using modern mACHINeRY A COLOURFUL Sunflower Plantation IN BRAZIL

4 Schools’ Pack – Brazil 2009

cost because in some areas the forest has to be cleared first. As much as 91% of the rainforest
cleared since 1970 was destroyed to make way for cattle ranches. This makes it the leading cause
of deforestation. There are a lot of cattle grazing illegally on former rainforest land. To stop this
problem the government has started seizing cattle to try and deter illegal ranches. Demand for
meat products in Europe and other parts of the world is partly to blame – European beef imports
from Brazil have more than doubled since 1990. Another problem is that the cleared land quickly
loses its fertility, forcing farmers to look elsewhere and possibly clear more land.

Denise Kremer
José Medeiros

herding cattle TRADITIONAL FARMING METHODS

Shifting cultivation

A traditional method of farming that is sometimes practised in Brazil is known as “shifting

cultivation.” It has also been called “slash and burn” farming. A small area is cleared for farming
and most of the trees cut down, although usually some trees are left. The undergrowth is cleared
away and the entire plot is then burned over several days, leaving lots of ashes on the site. Crops,
which can include sweet potato, manioc and fruits, are planted as soon as the burning is complete.
After two or three years, though, the large amount of rain washes nutrients out of the soil in a
process called leaching – leaving the ground infertile. The farmers then have to leave the site and
clear a new section of the forest. When carried out on a small scale, shifting cultivation can be a
sustainable method of farming and the land is often re-used after 10-15 years.

Sugarcane
Conditions in Brazil are ideal for growing sugarcane. To get a good crop farmers need a tropical
climate with a minimum of 600mm of rain per year. As a result of this ideal environment Brazil is
on of the world’s top producers. Harvesting sugarcane has largely been done by hand in Brazil,
but mechanisation is progressing fast. Manual harvesting can be a very dangerous job because of
the venomous snakes living within the leaves. For this reason, and to get rid of dead leaves, the
sugarcane is first set on fire. This prepares the crop for harvesting but it doesn’t damage the water-
rich stalks and roots, allowing them to grow back. A skilled harvester working with a machete can
gather 500kg of sugarcane in an hour – that’s the same as 20 big sacks of potatoes! The same
webpage that discusses the problems with soy cultivation also discusses the sugar sector.

Chapter 8 - Farming in Brazil 5

Aquaculture

Not all farming in Brazil takes place on land!

Water is also very important for farming and
many people work hard to produce shrimps,
prawns and tilapia. Although most of the world’s
shrimps are farmed in Asia, Brazil is the largest
producer outside that continent. It helps to
contribute to the 2.9 million tonnes of shrimp
that are farmed throughout the world. Shrimp
farming in Brazil has become more and more
important since the 1970s, which was when
demand for shrimps started to increase in
Japan, the USA and Western Europe.

Have soybeans and beef always

dominated Brazilian farming?

When Europeans started coming to Brazil in

the 1500s, the indigenous tribes used to trade

José Medeiros
the products of the forest in return for simple
European tools. One of the products traded by the
tribes was a wood called pau-brasil – and that is
A WORKER ON A Sugar Cane Plantation
how Brazil got its name. Early trading was usually
carried out at small ports on the Atlantic coast.

As time went on, different products became

popular for trading at different times. Certain
crops have dominated farming in Brazil and
made a lot of money for the farmers. When
producers in other parts of the world start to
grow the crop, though, it means that the Brazilian
farmers suffer. This is known as a boom-bust José Medeiros

cycle because there is a farming boom followed

by a bust, or collapse. Do you think that Brazilian
beef farming will follow this cycle? cutting the sugar cane
Ademar Pereira

Embratur

Anyone for a crab pizza? dry shrimps AT A MARKET

6 Schools’ Pack – Brazil 2009

 The table below shows how some Brazilian
crops have been popular at certain times.

Crop Years it was most popular

Brazilwood
(pau-brasil) 1500-1530
Sugar 1530-1650
Coffee 1840-1930

Nelson Lafraia
Rubber 1850-1912
Coccoa 1800-1980
Cotton 1930-1950
fruit shopping - SPOILT FOR CHOICE
Oranges 1930-1940

How and why has Brazilian

farming changed over time?

Let’s look at the examples of coffee and rubber

to show how farming has changed over time.

Brazil still grows and exports more coffee than

any other country. Most of the coffee growing
Denise Kremmer

takes place in the south-east region because

of the ideal climate and the rich red soil called
terra roxa. Over the last 100 years, though,
a coffee plant there have been many changes to how it is
grown. The first areas to grow coffee were close
to the city of São Paulo, but in the 19th century
the area being farmed for coffee rapidly grew
because more people were drinking coffee.
From the 1950s, however, more and more other
countries also decided to grow coffee and this
has led to a fall in Brazilian production.
Klaus Thomsen

You will all have used rubber, whether it’s for

school erasers, Wellington boots or the tyres on
a car. Rubber is made from latex liquid collected
a coffee plantation
from beneath the bark of a rubber tree. These
trees grow freely in the Amazon Rainforest.
In the late 19th century Brazil was the main
exporter of rubber and it was in huge demand
because motor cars had just been invented and
it was needed for tyres. But then an Englishman
called Henry Wickham took rubber tree seeds
to London and then to south east Asia, where
Embratur

huge plantations were developed. By 1914 the

rubber boom in Brazil had collapsed.
a rubber tree

Chapter 8 - Farming in Brazil 7

 Pupil Tasks

Task 1

Try to find out how much sugar you and your family use.
Does anybody put it in drinks?
Does anybody eat sweets or biscuits?
Look at the ingredients of the food you eat – is sugar found in it?
Keep a diary for the week and make a list of all the food and drink that contains sugar.

Task 2
Look at all the food you have at home. Most of the packages you find will have a “country of origin”
written on them telling you where they were produced.
Can you find any products that have come from South America? Is there anything in your house
that has come from Brazil?
Using a blank map of the world on an A4 sheet of paper, show where the food in your house has
come from. Remember to include a key on your map.

8 Schools’ Pack – Brazil 2009

Task 3
Choose five crops that are grown in Brazil, including at least one you have never heard of. Using
the internet to help you, complete the following table.

What is it and how is Produce a sketch to

Your chosen crop What is it used for?
it grown? show what it looks like.

Chapter 8 - Farming in Brazil 9