Deforestation rate associated with soy decreases in the Cerrado

The most recent geospatial analysis report on the Cerrado shows that soybeans have almost tripled their cultivated area in the biome since 2000, going from 7,4 million ha in 2000/01 to 21,4 million ha in 2021/22. This area represents 11% of the Cerrado and 52% of Brazil's current soybean area.

The survey, developed by Agrosatélite in partnership with the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (ABIOVE), reveals that the average growth rate of soybean farming in these 21 years was 667 thousand ha/year, and in the last two harvests (2020/ 21 and 2021/22) doubled, reaching 1.320 thousand ha/year.

Despite the significant increase in deforestation in the Cerrado between 2021 (853 thousand ha) and 2022 (1,07 million ha), which corresponds to an increase of 26%, it is important to highlight that deforestation rates in the first five years of monitoring the PRODES Cerrado (2001 to 2005) presented an average of 2,6 million ha annually. However, they suffered a significant drop in the last five years (2018 to 2022), with an annual average of 810 thousand ha, that is, three times smaller.

In addition to this decrease in more recent years, there is a marked difference between the regions of MATOPIBA (Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia) and Other States (Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, Distrito Federal, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná). Regarding the participation of soy in the conversion of native vegetation in the Cerrado, from the 2021 deforestation (853 thousand ha), 52 thousand ha were converted to soybean farming (6,2% of the total), of which 9 thousand ha in Other States and 43 thousand ha in MATOPIBA. In other words, 94% of the vegetation converted in the Cerrado in 2021 was not used for soybean cultivation.

ABIOVE's Sustainability Manager, Bernardo Pires, comments on this trend. “The survey clearly shows this distinction between the two soybean-producing regions in the biome. The region of Other States, considered more consolidated, has ample stocks of open land with agricultural potential, such that the pressure on native vegetation in producing properties is lower. In MATOPIBA, the stocks of land that has been open for a longer time are restricted when compared to those of suitable land with native vegetation, causing a significant part of the expansion with deforestation to occur in this region”, concludes Pires.

In fact, a detailed analysis of the dynamics of land use and cover change associated with the expansion of 5,9 million ha of soybeans in the period from 2013/14 to 2021/22 showed that it is primarily due to the intensification of land use through pasture conversion. In other states, 190 thousand ha expanded with deforestation and in MATOPIBA there were 700 thousand ha expanded with deforestation.

The full report can be obtained at the link below: