Brazilian Agriculture,

Environmental Sustainability
and Fertilizer Use
José Carlos Polidoro
Embrapa/MAPA
Brazilian agricultural research company

SAE/PR
Special Secretary of Strategic Issues of the Presidency of Brazil
 Projection of increased food production by 2027

Brazil: Agroenvironmental
World Power of the future
Brazil: Agroenvironmental
World Power
Land use capacity classes
MATOPIBA region of Brazil

Pasture land and planted area in Brazil Soil erosion vulnerability in Brazil

Pastures
Annual crops
Planted forest

Atlas das Pastagens (ufg.br)

Simões, M. et al. 2020 Lumbreras J.F. et al. 2015
Brazil: Agroenvironmental
World Power

Brazilian plans, programs and laws that

regulate land use and encourage the
practice of sustainable agriculture
Brazil:
Agroenvironmental World Biological Nitrogen Fixation in Soybean

Power

Science-Based
Brazilian Agriculture

6.28 million tons/yr N

Source: CONAB, Urquiaga e Alves (2020)

Source: Polidoro, J. C. et al. 2021

 Grains Yeld (million tons)
Land use (million hectars)
fertilizes consuption (milion tons)

Brazil:
Agroenvironmental
World Power

“Green Save-Land” of Soybean tecnology in Brazil

Just soybean technologies

accounted for savings of 80
million hectares of natural
preserved lands in the last 20
years

SOYBEAN
PRODUCTIVITY
INCREASE AND SAVED-
LAND AREA EQUAL OF
BIOMA AMAZÔNIA (4.199.249 APROXIMATELY ACRE,
KM2 ) AMAPÁ, RONDÔNIA,
RORAIMA AND DO
DESFORASTATION AREA BEFORE TOCANTINS
2021 (741.439 KM2 – 17,7% DO BIOMA)
Spatial distribution of soybean in Brazil - crop 2016/2017.
Source: IBGE [2018]. (Embrapa, Source: Seixas, C.D.S, 2020 Source: Spadotti, G. Embrapa Territorial, d.n.p
 The Brazilian Journey to
be an Agroenvironmental
Power of the World

The Constraints:

The Brasilian OCDE Agroenvi-

ronmental Indicators:

• Total Ammonia Emissions

Alves, BJR.; Urquiaga S.S.; et al, 2021

The Constraints The “alligator mouth” effect of Fertilizers market in Brazil

• 8,5% of world
consumption
Brazilian Dependency on imported • #4 in
Fertilizer and Pesticides (raw material consumption

and products) • #1 importer

• 85% importation

Grains Yeld (million tons)

Land use (million hectars) Pesticides Sales: Glyphosate distribution by soybean planted
fertilizes consuption (milion tons) area (in ha) - 2017

• 9,0 % of World
consumption

• #1 in
consumption/importer

• 75% importation

Brazilian agrobusiness does not

exist without fertilizers.
https://geoportal.cprm.gov.br/portal/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=665a6120b4c249c5a9c32eed68b8570b
The Brazilian Journey to be
an Agroenvironmental
Power of the World

Land use and coverage Annual soil loss potential

t ha-1 million t million US$

The solutions – Annual crops

Sugarcane
15.0a
5.6b
834.6
51.4
4298.5
264.9
Perennial, semi perennial crops and 0.8a 13.3 68.6
planted forests

The potential damage by Total Crops and Planted Forests 899.4 4631.7
erosion in Brazil and Natural pasture 3.4c 160.9 828.6
Degraded pasture 22.4c 1427.9 7353.7

The economy of ZT and ICLF Cultivated pasture 4.2c 284.9 1467.2

ZT/CA
adoption
iCLF-CA
adoption
systems for farmers. Total Pasture 1873.7 9649.5 Lime and Fertilizer
Unit Cost area area
32.88 Mha 11.47 Mha
Natural vegetation (Conservation 0.4d 73.2 377.1
Units, Indigenous Land and Public US$ ton-1 million US$ million US$
Forests)
Dolomitic limestone 37.00 106.31 37.09
Protected areas (Settlements, Triple
550.25 102.27 35.68
environmental protection areas 0.9d 119.6 615.8 superphosphate
and quilombolas) Potassium chlorate 549.96 323.48 112.84
Natural vegetation in rural properties 0.4 87.3 449.6 Urea fertilizer 520.02 484.57 169.04
Natural Forests 280.1 1442.5 Ammonium
396.20 80.88 28.21
sulphate
Unvegetated natural landscapes 0.0 0.0 0.0
Organic fertilizers 30.00 387.07 135.03
Cities, mining etc. 0.0 0.0 0.0
Annual Cost
TOTAL 3053.2 15.723.7 (in million US 1,484.6 517.9
Dollars)
The Brazilian Journey to Grains Yeld (million tons)

be an Agroenvironmental Land use (million hectars)

Power of the World

Fertilizes consuption (milion tons)

“The perfect Storm”

The Brazil dependency of Fertilizers is a National

Security Case.

Fertilizer Efficient Use (%) in Brazil

N P K
40-60% 20-30% >70%
Source: FINCK, 1992; RAO, 1992; Casarin, et al. 2015.
The Brazilian Journey to be
an Agroenvironmental Power
of the World

The Brazilian Fertilizer Plan

2022-2050

Decree Nº 10.991/2022
 The Brazilian Journey to
be an Agroenvironmental
Power of the World

To modernize, reactivate and expand existing fertilizer

The Brazilian Fertilizer National Plan plants (factories) and projects in Brazil.
To promote competitive advantages in the national
fertilizer production chain to improve the supply for the
Brazilian market

Strategic Guidelines focused Improve the business environment in Brazil to attract

on diagnostic bottlenecks: investment
Expand investments in RD&I in the development of the
fertilizer and plant nutrition chain in Brazil
Adequate infrastructure for the integration of logistics
centers and the feasibility of projects
The Brazilian Journey to
be an Agroenvironmental
Power of the World Innovations in Fertilizers and Plant Nutrition that changed
the course of Brazilian agriculture

Flotation of Brazilian phosphates BNF in Soybean

Is Brazil good at
disruptive innovation
in fertilizers and
plant nutrition?

ALVES, Francisco E.; CHAVES, Arthur Pinto. Paulo

Abib: o grande mestre da flotação no Brasil. 6,28 milion N tons/yr
In: Teoria e prática do tratamento de minérios: a
flotação no Brasil[S.l: s.n.], 2013.
Source: CONAB, Urquiaga e Alves (2020)
The Brazilian Journey to be
an Agroenvironmental Power
of the World

The solutions

The Brazilian Fertilizer National

Plan

headquarter
National Excelence Center of Fertilizers
and Plant Nutrition Development
 Conclusions

• Brazil will not disappoint the world in

supplying the world with food and feed in
2050

• The profissionalism, Science and Techhology

based processes and sustainability are the
drivers of Brazilian Agriculture development.

• The effect of “spared-land” is increasing in https://zeihan.com/disunited-nations-maps/

Brazil
 Final Message:

“Agriculture is Peace” https://www.huffpostbrasil.com/2017/12/08/fome-no-mundo-1-a-

cada-4-pessoas-sem-acesso-a-comida-e-
crianca_a_23301374/?utm_hp_ref=br-noticias
https://mronline.org/2021/07/09/why-are-children-suffering-
from-hunger-in-ukraine/

fertilizer
Roberto Rodrigues
(Minister of Agriculture in Brazil (2002-2006)

https://observatorio3setor.org.br/noticias/cada-4-segundos-
uma-pessoa-morre-de-fome-no-mundo/ https://oglobo.globo.com/mundo/ate-12-mil-pessoas-podem-morrer-de-fome-por-dia-
no-mundo-ate-fim-de-2020-por-causa-da-pandemia-alerta-oxfam-24521771