Chapter 10, Problem 10.1CTDQ

To determine

The costs and benefits of the expansion of soybean farming and grazing in Brazil, how an individual would weigh these costs and benefits for Brazilians and how he would advise The Brazilians on their farming and grazing policies and the factors which would shape the advice.

Answer to Problem 10.1CTDQ

The cost of the expansion of soybean farming is increased by $80\%$ from $1996$ to $2006$ which reduces the area of cultivated land. The suggestion to the Brazilians is that to stop the expansion of soybean farming because it leads to the deforestation which is disastrous to the environment.

Explanation of Solution

About $\text{40}\text{yrs}$ ago, soybeans were minor crop in Brazil. However, since $1975$ the total area planted with soybeans have doubled about every four years, reaching more than $82$ million acres. Hence, over half of the Cerrado has now been converted into vast crop fields.

Theexpansion of soybean farming results inthe grain cultivation, which is increased by $80\%$ from $1996$ to $2006$. This has increased, particularly in the area of Cerrado (Brazilian Savannah). However, in the mean time the cattle grazing in almost all Brazilian states (except Amazon, where it is increased by $34\%$) is decreased.

The expansion of soybean farming reduced thearea of cultivated land which hascreated a major problem for cattle farmers, thereby they cleared the jungles to create pastures for grazing. These changes weigh major conflicts among farmers for land and environmental problems for Brazilians like deforestation, which can result in unbalanced ecosystem.

As a U.S. ambassador of Brazil, the suggestion to the Brazilians on their farming and grazing policies is to stop theexpansion of soybean farming.

The factor that relates to the advice is deforestation. The increase in soybean farming caused problems for cattle farmers, as they cleared the jungles for pasture grazing, which leads to deforestation. And deforestation causes harm to the environment.