Distributive Implications of the Growth in Soybean Production in Brazil

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the distributive implications of technological innovations, and in particular concentrate on their effects on low income food consumers in Brazil. The soybean, in Brazilian agriculture, represents the most recent and important example of expansion in acreage during a short time interval, from the early sixties to the early eighties. In 1984, soybean was the second crop in Brazil in terms of cultivated hectarage, the first one being corn and, is very likely to be the first one in value of exports. In Brazil, during phases one and two of soybean expansion, both effects appear to have happened; that is, a direct substitution of soybean for other crops, as well as a process of hectarage growth highly specific for the soybean. The chapter shows that extraordinary growth resulted in significant changes in the composition of agricultural output, leading to an inadequate rate of output growth of domestic food crops.