EVALUATING SOYBEAN FARMING PRACTICES IN MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL: ECONOMIC ...

EVALUATING SOYBEAN FARMING PRACTICES IN MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL:

ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVES

By

CAROLINA MAGGI RIBEIRO

A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

2007

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? 2007 Carolina Maggi Ribeiro

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To my wonderful parents.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank my supervisory committee chair, Dr. Peter Hildebrand, for his mentoring and

assistance, and for helping me to improve written skills. I also would like to thank the committee

members Dr. Robert Buschbacher and Dr. Robert McSorley for their support and collaboration

through the development of my thesis, and for Dr. Buschbacher¡¯s assistance in Brazil while I

was doing my field work.

I thank my parents for their loving encouragement and support. I would like to thank my

family for enabling me to write this thesis in collaboration with Amaggi Group, and for their

help in facilitating information.

I especially thank Jo?o Shimada, Amaggi Group¡¯s Environmental Coordinator, for his

assistance and support while I was in the field, for helping me with background information and

sharing his knowledge of good farming practices and legal compliance in Mato Grosso. I also

would like to thank the Amaggi Group¡¯s managers in the cities of Sinop, Sorriso and Tapurah,

for finding the time to introduce me to the soybean farmers in the region. I thank Amaggi Group

and staff who collaborated with me and contributed to the success of my research.

Thanks go to the soybean farmers in northern Mato Grosso who participated in my survey,

for their honest and open participation, and thanks to my friends in this region, who helped me to

get in touch with local farmers. I also would like to thank Ocimar Villela who first encouraged

and inspired me to become involved in natural resources management, leading me to University

of Florida. Most importantly, I would like to thank Onil Banerjee for his love, encouragement,

support, editing, and for being a lovely boyfriend.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

page

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4

LIST OF TABLES...........................................................................................................................8

LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................9

ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................12

CHAPTER

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INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................14

Soybean Production and Expansion in Mato Grosso, Brazil..................................................14

Sustainable Agriculture ..........................................................................................................17

Legal Compliance............................................................................................................17

Permanent preserved areas (APP) ............................................................................18

Legal reserve (RL) ...................................................................................................18

Good Farming Practices ..................................................................................................19

Crop rotation and cover crops ..................................................................................19

Soil conservation and management..........................................................................20

Integrated production systems..................................................................................21

Integrated pest management (IPM) ..........................................................................22

Pesticide use and technology....................................................................................23

Amaggi Group ........................................................................................................................24

Study Objectives, Research Questions and Hypotheses.........................................................25

Methods ..................................................................................................................................27

Description of Study Sites ...............................................................................................27

The BR-163 site .......................................................................................................28

Municipality of Sinop...............................................................................................28

Municipality of Sorriso ............................................................................................29

Municipality of Tapurah...........................................................................................30

Field Methods..................................................................................................................31

Interviews ........................................................................................................................33

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SOYBEAN MANAGEMENT PRACTICES .........................................................................40

Introduction.............................................................................................................................40

Methods ..................................................................................................................................41

Data Analyses..................................................................................................................41

Descriptive Analyses .......................................................................................................42

Statistical Analyses..........................................................................................................42

Regression Analysis ........................................................................................................42

Weighted Means..............................................................................................................43

Results.....................................................................................................................................43

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