Brazilian Agriculture in
the World News
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Strong Economy
Propels Brazil to World Stage
FORTALEZA, Brazil — Desperate to escape her
hand-to-mouth existence in one of Brazil’s
poorest regions, Maria Benedita Sousa used a
small loan five years ago to buy two sewing
machines and start her own business making
women’s underwear.
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO - July 31 - 2008 |
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ADM to start
ethanol production in Brazil - report
SAO PAULO, July 28
(Reuters) - U.S. food and grains company
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM.N: Quote,
Profile,
Research)
will start cane-based ethanol production in
Brazil with local partners, a Brazilian
newspaper said on Monday. |
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Biofuels in Brazil
Lean, green and not mean
Jun
26th 2008 | RIBEIRÃO PRETO
From The Economist print editionThe United States may drop a tariff on
Brazilian ethanol. But the industry is still
the victim of much misplaced criticism.
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2008
Crop Trip Report: Brazil Expected to Produce
Three Record 2007/08 Crops
Brazil is forecast in 2007/08 to produce
three record crops for corn, cotton and
soybeans due to a combination of increased
planted area and favorable weather. Brazil’s
2007/08 soybean crop is forecast at a record
61.0 million tons on 21.5 million hectares,
with a record yield of 2.86 tons/ha. The
2007/08 corn crop is forecast at record 53
million tons on 14.5 million hectares, with
a record yield of 3.65 tons/ha. The 2007/08
cotton crop is forecast at 7.1 million bales
on 1.15 million hectares, with a near-record
yield of 1363 kg/ha.
February 2008 Crop Assessment Tour
FAS-Washington and Brasilia personnel
performed a crop assessment tour from
February 15-March 5, 2008 in southern and
center-west Brazil, as indicated in Figure
1, and the survey team transected the main
grain and soybean belts in Mato Grosso and
Parana states. Many producers were beginning
to plant the second or safrinha crop in both
Mato Grosso and Parana states where
double-cropping is possible.
(click
for full article) |
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A record soybean
harvest highlights the nation's growing agricultural
output.
LUCAS DO RIO VERDE, BRAZIL—This is arguably soybean
ground zero, the small city in the west-central
Brazilian state of Mato Grosso around which some of
the world's most mammoth harvests of the
protein-rich beans just took place a few weeks ago.
As such, some food analysts—and, not least, some
Brazilian crop producers—see the Mato Grosso farm
belt as offering the best prospect for meeting the
rising demand for affordable food in the world.
(click for full article)
Also see Tom Omestad's article on Western Bahia |
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Cosan
buys filling station chain for $826m
(May 08)
By Jonathan Wheatley in São Paulo
Cosan, Brazil’s biggest sugar and ethanol
producer, has agreed to buy the Esso chain of
filling stations in Brazil from ExxonMobil for
$826m plus $198m in debt.
The deal represents the first big investment by
a sugar and ethanol producer in retail fuel
distribution and was announced on the same day
that BP of the UK said it would join a R$1.66bn
joint venture to produce fuel ethanol in Brazil
– the first big investment by a major oil
company in ethanol production.
(go
to
article) |
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The Tortoise and the Hare - Brazil and Argentina
Mar 08:(The Economist UK)
TAKE two neighbouring
economies, both heavily dependent on commodity prices to make their trade
figures look good. Give one an orthodox monetary policy, watch it embrace
foreign investors and float its currency. Hand the other over to mavericks who
have resorted to fixing prices, banning or taxing some of their own exports and
baldly lying about the inflation rate. The result? The
rascal—Argentina—continues to grow at a blistering 9% clip, while by contrast
well-behaved Brazil plods along (see chart). Is it time to rewrite the economics
textbooks? Argentines would like to think so. But there are signs that Brazil
may yet come out ahead.
(Go
to Article)
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King of soya: environmental vandal or saviour of the world's poor?
Mar 08( The
Guardian UK)
Erai Maggi does not look like a
villain who is destroying the planet; nor does he look like a hero who is saving
the world's poor. Wearing jeans and work boots, he can be found on a typical day
driving a battered Fiat car on one of his farms south of the Amazon rainforest.
For someone who excites extreme
views he seems miscast, neither Darth Vader nor Indiana Jones. But the
48-year-old Brazilian farmer is protagonist in a drama about climate change,
globalisation, poverty and hunger.
(Go to Article)
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How Brazil Outfarmed the American Farmer
Feb 08:(Fortune USA)
Kory Melby
Fortune magazine contacted me after their trip to Lucas do Rio Verde, Mato
Grosso.
I gave them my perspective of an American producer having lived in Brazil for 5
years and what the soybean expansion means for producers worldwide.
I also helped the photographer from the article make contact with local
producers in Mato Grosso. The photos were taken at the beginning of rainy
season. The soybeans had only been in the ground for a few days. January and
February are the best months to visit if one wants to see an ocean of green.
(GO TO ARTICLE) |
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