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Due to the increasing population worldwide, in recent years, an exponential increase in agricultural practices has occurred in order to attend to the growing demand for food. Unfortunately, this increase is not associated with the supply of foodstuffs free of environmental pollutants. In Brazil, agriculture is one of the most important economic pillars, making the country one of the largest consumers of pesticides around the world. The intense use of pesticides, mainly glyphosate, 2,4-D, and atrazine, constitutes an essential factor in the viability of this great agricultural productivity. Sugarcane, corn, soybean, and citrus crops consume around 66% of the total pesticides worldwide, representing 76% of the planted area. Pesticide residues have been frequently detected in food and the environment, becoming a significant concern for human health. Monitoring programs for pesticide use are essential to reduce the potential negative impacts on the environment and improve the overall efficiency and sustainability of their use. However, in Brazil, the approval status of pesticide-active ingredients is very discrepant compared to other agricultural countries. Moreover, the duality of benefits and risks of pesticide application creates an economic and toxicological conflict. In this paper, we have critically reviewed the duality of risks-benefits of the use of pesticides in agriculture and the current Brazilian legislation issues. We have also compared this flawed legislation with other countries with high economic potential. Due to the negative environmental impacts on soil and water by the high levels of pesticides, remediation techniques, sustainable agriculture, and the development of new technologies can be considered some viable alternatives to reduce the levels in these compartments. Besides, this paper includes some recommendations that can be included in the coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil has favored agribusiness instead of family farming. In the agribusiness production networks, food is nottreated as a social right, but rather as a commodity whose primary purpose is to obtain profit. This paper aims to contribute to the debate on the intrinsic relationship between agribusiness expansion and hunger in Brazil. Our starting point are some of the pillars that support food as a commodity, like ultra-processed food and economic concentration in its production and distribution. The methodology was structured according to the basic principles of qualitative research for the construction of a critical analysis. We conclude that in addition to the increase in production and productivity of agribusiness, we have the growth of people without access to food, showing that these processes are sides of the same coin. We also note that although hunger increased exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic, agri-food businesses and supermarkets were among the most profitable during this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compares Brazilian Agricultural Sciences scientific production and Brazilian agricultural production as highlighted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, for each federative unit. In methodological terms, the scientific production is measured by bibliometric indicators of production and thematic association using BibExcel, Excel, and VOSviewer software. The study corpus is composed of 109.084 scientific papers indexed by Scopus between 2008 and 2017. The heterogeneous distribution of the Brazilian scientific production in Agricultural Sciences was demonstrated for all Brazilian states. The keywords analysis revealed that the most common research topic was Brazilian' Socioeconomics Policies, a research goal established by the National Graduate Plan (2010-2020). In conclusion, the correspondence between scientific production in Agricultural Sciences and agricultural production was found, once 19 out of 26 agricultural products identified by the Ministry as relevant to the Brazilian economy were present among the most frequent keywords. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shift from a fossil-based to a bio-based economy (bioeconomy) requires more efficient utilization of the biomass generated from agricultural production. This can be achieved through the cascading use of biomass, which also offers the potential of creating additional value from biomass by developing novel products. Taking sugarcane as a case study example, this paper aims to analyze how well Brazil, the world’s leader in sugarcane production, is positioned to reach these goals. The paper combines two conceptual tools: one is the ‘biomass-based value web’, which was developed as an extension of the value chain concept with the aim to capture the links within and between value chains that arise from the cascading and joined use of biomass. The other concept is that of the ‘national innovation system’ (NIS), which serves to identify the different types of actors involved in the biomass value web and the linkages between them. For empirical data collection, the study combined three methods: a mapping of the physical biomass flows in the value web, in-depth interviews with the actors involved, and the application of the ‘Net-Map’ tool to identify the actors in the NIS and their linkages. The findings show that the development of Brazil’s international competitiveness in sugar and ethanol was based on political incentives that resulted in a strong network of institutions that focused on these two products. However, to become a front-runner in the future bioeconomy, the existing innovation network needs to be expanded. In particular, it is important to integrate national and international private sector organizations. The findings also suggest that industries need stronger incentives to collaborate with knowledge institutions. Long-term consistent policies and funding opportunities for risky investments are also required to further strengthen Brazil’s innovation network to meet future opportunities and challenges of the bioeconomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its low global share of direct energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (1–2%), the implications of technological transitions in the agricultural and forestry sector on the energy system have been overlooked. This paper introduces the Agriculture and Land Use Sector module part of the ModUlar energy System Environment (MUSE), a novel energy system simulation model. The study presents a generalisable method that enables energy modellers to characterise agricultural technologies within an energy system modelling framework. Different mechanisation processes were characterised to simulate intensification/extensification transitions in the sector and its wider implications in the energy and land use system aiming at providing reliable non-energy outputs similarly to those found in dedicated land use models. Additionally, a forest growth model has been integrated to explore the role of reforestation alongside decarbonisation measures in the energy system in achieving carbon mitigation pathways. To illustrate the model's capabilities, Brazil is used as case study. Outputs suggest that by 2030 under a 2 °C mitigation scenario, most of Brazil agricultural production would move from 'transitional' to 'modern' practices, improving productivity and reducing deforestation rates, at the expense of higher energy and fertiliser demand. By mid-century Brazil has the potential to liberate around 24.4 Mha of agricultural land, where large-scale reforestation could have the capacity to sequester around 5.6 GtCO 2 , alleviating mitigation efforts in the energy system, especially reducing carbon capture and storage technology investments in the industry and power sector. • A novel energy-oriented agriculture and land use systems model has been developed. • Mechanisation levels are characterised using cluster analysis and linear optimisation. • Role of reforestation alongside measures in the energy sector in Brazil are studied. • By 2050, modern mechanisation could represent 54–63% of agricultural production. • Brazil has the potential to sequester around 5.6 GtCO 2 through reforestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the dynamic relationships between per-capita combustible renewables and waste (CRW) consumption, agricultural value added (AVA), carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and real gross domestic product (GDP) for the case of Brazil, spanning the period 1980–2013. There is long-run cointegration between the considered variables. Short-run empirical findings reveal that there is a unidirectional causality running from agriculture to CO2 emissions and to GDP. However, there is long-run bidirectional causality between all considered variables. The long-run estimates show that both CRW consumption and AVA contribute to increase economic growth and to decrease CO2 emissions. Agricultural production and CRW consumption appear to play substitutable roles in the Brazilian economy as increasing CRW consumption reduces AVA in the long run, and vice versa. In addition, economic growth increases agricultural production and CRW production. Brazil is advised to continue encouraging agriculture and biofuels productions. The present substitutability between agriculture and biofuels productions could be reduced or even stopped by encouraging second-generation biofuels and discouraging first-generation biofuels. This may be done by policies of subsidization or of taxation, encouraging R&D and giving advantageous credits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The largest size class produced with the highest TFP levels in 1985 and 2006. • By 2006, a U-shaped total factor productivity distribution over farm sizes emerged. • The U-shape was due to the smallest and largest sizes having the fastest TFP growth. • Education and annual-crop specialization were associated with higher TFP growth. The long-standing debate on the relationship between farm size and productivity has been generally limited by the range of farm sizes evaluated and the definition of productivity. In this paper we use data from three Brazilian agricultural censuses to address these issues. In particular, we introduce a wider distribution of farm sizes than presently available from the literature and we employ total factor productivity (TFP) as our performance measure. In doing so, we test which farm size class had the highest TFP levels in 1985 and 2006, how factor productivity growth varied within and across farm size classes between those years, and which policy or factor had the greatest productivity enhancing effect. When examining TFP growth, we move beyond the common decomposition into technical and efficiency changes by identifying the complete distribution of farm productivity performances. We find that by 2006 a U-shaped distribution of productivity over farm sizes had emerged. Considerable 1985–2006 TFP growth differences are prevalent; positive rates for the majority accompany stagnant or negative rates for some. Public education investments were associated with faster productivity growth regardless of farm size, while technical assistance's positive effect and credit's negative effect were associated with larger farm sizes. The role of specialization varied by size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil has emerged as an agro-export powerhouse: from being a net-agricultural importer and food aid recipient as recently as the 1960s and 1970s, it has now become the world’s third largest agricultural exporter, after the US and EU. What is more, Brazil’s new role as a major agricultural trader has provided an important foundation for its enhanced status and influence in global economic governance, as an emerging power and one of the ‘BRICS’. This paper analyses how such a remarkable transformation was brought about. I argue that Brazil’s emergence as an agricultural powerhouse was the result not of its natural factor endowments, but extensive intervention on the part of the Brazilian state that had the effect of constructing a new comparative advantage. This transformation was propelled by state-driven innovation and related policies that opened up massive new areas of the country to agriculture, enabled it to shift to producing goods in direct competition with the world’s dominant agricultural exporters, and generated significant gains in productivity and competitiveness. The irony is that the intention of these policies, initiated in the 1970s, was to foster industrial development in Brazil as part of its import-substitution industrialisation programme, yet they wound up having precisely the opposite effect – transforming Brazil into one of the world’s dominant agricultural powers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct seeding mulch-based cropping (DMC) systems are often considered as an efficient way of combining ecological sustainability and economic viability while maintaining or increasing agricultural productivity. This paper describes a modelling analysis of the functioning of family farms in rural settlements of the agrarian reform in the Cerrados of Brazil. The aim was to assess the impact of the introduction of DMC systems with and without cover crops on crop-livestock management and net household income. A bio-economic farm model based on optimization of a utility function under multiple constraints was developed, capturing the interactions between livestock activities and the introduction of DMC systems. The model was run for six farms representing three farm types in the study area: 1) subsistence-oriented mixed crop-livestock farms; 2) market-oriented dairy farms; and 3) mixed crop-livestock farms, oriented to meat marketing. The following maize-based DMC systems were evaluated: a DMC system with mulch from residues of the previous maize crop and no cover crop, and two DMC systems with a fodder species, Brachiaria brizanta or Cajanus cajan , as cover crop. The simulated adoptability of DMC systems by farmers of the assentamentos depended to a large extent on the yields and feed quality of the fodder species. The modelling results suggested that DMC with C. cajan as cover crop was the best suitable option for all simulated farm types. This was mainly explained by its high feed value (expressed in crude protein content). Furthermore, in the process of intensification and specialization in dairy production, farmers were likely to shift from using maize for pig husbandry to feeding it to the dairy cows. The introduction of cover crops in the farm systems was a source of additional animal feed during the dry season that was cheaper than the purchase of feed concentrates, when the size of the dairy herd did not exceed a certain threshold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper investigates the environmental sustainability and competitiveness perceptions of small farmers in a region in northern Brazil. The main data collection instruments included a survey questionnaire and an analysis of the region's strategic plan. In total, ninety-nine goat and sheep breeding farmers were surveyed. Data analysis methods included descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, and chi-squared tests. The main results relate to the impact of education, land size, and location on the farmers' perceptions of competitiveness and environmental issues. Farmers with longer periods of education have higher perception scores about business competitiveness and environmental sustainability than those with less formal education. Farmers who are working larger land areas also have higher scores than those with smaller farms. Lastly, location can yield factors that impact on farmers' perceptions. In our study, farmers located in Angicos and Lajes had higher perception scores than Pedro Avelino and Afonso Bezerra, despite the geographical proximity of these municipalities. On the other hand, three other profile variables did not impact on farmers' perceptions, namely: family income, dairy production volume, and associative condition. The authors believe the results and insights can be extended to livestock farming in other developing countries and contribute generally to fostering effective sustainable development policies, mainly in the agribusiness sector. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper examines the challenges that exist in Brazil, with respect to the institutionalization of geographical indications of agricultural food products, based on the European experience. The recent expansion in the number of experiences of differentiation has not been able to engender changes required to stabilize a system that currently shows up extremely fragile and lacking coordination. The study is based on a comparative approach between the Brazilian and European legal framework considering the existence of diverse experiences of geographical indications of Spain (Andalusia) and Rio Grande do Sul (Serra Gaucha). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of modifications for the source code of EPIC version 0160 in order to simulate growth, yield, and nutrient uptake by the crops under the pedo-climatic conditions of the semiarid Northeastern Brazil are presented. The modifications included changes in chemical properties of the soil due to liming as manual option, changes in the estimation of soil Al saturation, effects of Na on the soil physical properties, interaction between climatic and nutrient constraints to crop growth, modifications in the estimation of labile P factor for uptake and in the calculations of the N and P stress factors which are now estimated as a function of the ratio between the daily uptake and daily demand for the potential growth.Moreover, the structure of a simple soil and plant K model designed to be incorporated into EPIC is described. The model maintains pools of exchangeable, soluble and fixed K for the mineral form in the soil; of crop residue K for the organic form and of grain, stover and root K for the crop form. The model runs on a daily time step, simulating K uptake by the crops and transformations between the different soil pools as well as several other processes like leaching, runoff, lateral subsurface flow, movement upward through soil evaporation, K recycling from crop residues and the effect of limited soil K availability on crop development. The model is sensitive to soil chemical and physical properties, crop K requirements, crop competition, tillage practices, fertilizer rate, and soil water content.In a second paper of this series, the test of the proposed modifications, including the plant and soil potassium sub-model, for simulations of crop growth, yield and nutrient uptake of a maize × cowpea intercrop in the semiarid NE of Brazil is presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Agricultural productivity matters for poverty reduction and growth. • Land productivity declines with farm size in all regions of Brazil. • The farm size – total factor productivity relationship changes with modernization. • The relationship between farm size and TFP becomes U-shaped or positive by 2006. • TFP is more relevant than land productivity for policy and poverty. The relationship between farm size and productivity is a recurrent topic in development economics, almost as old as the discipline itself. This paper emphasizes the importance of choice of productivity measures in the inverse relationship literature. First, we seek to clarify the common measures, their relationships, and advantages and limitations in empirical work. Second, we argue that total factor productivity (TFP), not land productivity, is the appropriate indicator for most policy questions. Lastly, using a pseudo-panel of Brazilian farms that are aggregated at the farm size and municipality levels over the period 1985–2006, we provide new evidence on the inverse relationship between farm size and both land productivity and TFP. The inverse relationship between size and land productivity is alive and well. The relationship between TFP and size, in contrast, has evolved with modernization during this period, becoming increasingly U-shaped or even positive. Policy implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]