Soy Complex Research Articles

Global Inequalities in the Bioeconomy: Thinking Continuity and Change in View of the Global Soy Complex

As a proposed pathway to societal transformation, the bioeconomy is aimed at providing a sustainable alternative to the fossil-based economy, replacing fossil raw materials with renewable biogenic alternatives. In this conceptual contribution, we argue that it is impossible to transform societies into sustainable bioeconomies considering the narrow boundaries of the bioeconomy as a policy. Drawing on approaches including agro-food studies, cheap food, and agrarian extractivism, we show that the bioeconomy is entangled in a broader context of social relations which call its claim to sustainability into question. Our analysis of the global soy complex, which represents the core of the current agro-food system, demonstrates how the bioeconomy perpetuates global inequalities with regard to trade relations, demand, and supply patterns, as well as power relations between the involved actors from the global to the local level. Against this background, we propose a fundamental rethink of the underlying understanding of transformation in bioeconomy policies. Instead of thinking the bioeconomy only along the lines of ecological modernisation, its proponents should consider studies on social-ecological transformation, which would entail radical structural change of the prevailing food regime to cope with the social-ecological crisis.

INDICADORES DE DESEMPENHO EXPORTADOR DO COMPLEXO SOJA BRASILEIRO – 2000-2019

the objective is to analyze the export performance of the national soy complex in the face of its competition in the foreign market, covering the period from 2000 to 2019. The data were collected on the Comex Stat portal, of the Secretariat of Foreign Trade (SECEX) of the Ministry of Development Industry and Commerce (MDIC), Free on Board (FOB) data in dollars; the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA) and the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade). To this end, the construction of international trade indicators was used. The results show that Brazil has a Symmetric and Vollrath Revealed Comparative Advantage and Revealed Competitiveness for all items inherent to the soy complex in the entire period studied. With regard to the Exporting Effort, it was found that the soy complex's exports are concentrated in the commercialization of the soybean. Regarding the Regional Orientation, it was found that soybean grain exports are oriented to China and Spain, soybean oil to India and soybean meal to France and Holland.

ANÁLISE DA TENDÊNCIA E CRESCIMENTO DAS EXPORTAÇÕES CHINESA E SEUS IMPACTOS NO COMPLEXO SOJA SUL AMERICANO: 1990 A 2020

The study proposes an analysis of the trends and export profiles of products from the soy complex in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and China in the period from 1990 to 2020. The econometric model of trend and log-linear growth rate was used as a methodology. Among the results, it was found that china has resized its international trade in the soy complex. Through industrial policy, it constituted a competition and a large industrial park. Based on trade policy, it strengthened the industry, through tariff and non-tariff barriers. On the other hand, in the South American continent, it was observed that as a promotion policy in China, it stimulates the growth of soy production in Brazil. In contrast, Argentina and Paraguay's policy was effective in maintaining and expanding activities related to soy processing.

Оценка агробиологических свойств сортов сои для орошаемых земель Ростовской области

Purpose: selection of soybean varieties that meet the climatic conditions of Rostov region, adaptable to the cultivation technology on irrigated lands. Materials and methods. The studies were carried out in Rostov region on heavy loamy meadow chernozem soils. 18 soybean varieties of different ripeness groups were studied in 2019 and 2020. Plot area was 150 sq. m. Sowing was carried out by a wide-row method with a row spacing of 0.7 m at a seeding rate of 500 thousand pieces/ha. Soybean varieties were cultivated in accordance with agricultural techniques in accordance with the zonal farming systems of Rostov region. The trial establishment, observation over the plants development and the onset of the main phenological phases, yield records, as well as statistical processing of the observation results were carried out according to generally accepted methods of conducting field experiments. Results. The duration of the growing season for soybean varieties has been determined (from 102 to 123 days, depending on the variety). The height of soybean plants in the bean filling stage varied from 81.8 to 123.7 cm. The largest leaf area in the beans filling stage was formed in the varieties Select 201, SK Riana and Select 302 – 71.53; 71.30 and 69.35 thousand sq. m/ha, respectively. The most productive were early ripening and medium early ripening varieties SK Riana, Select 302, Select 201, SK Veda, their average yield for 2 years was 4.45; 4.25; 4.08; 3.97 t/ha, respectively. Conclusions. Studies devoted to the selection of soybean varieties that meet the natural and climatic conditions of Rostov region and are adaptable to the cultivation technology on irrigated lands have shown that the SK Riana, Select 302, Select 201, SK Veda varieties of “Soy Complex” Company. The Annushka variety (3.80 t/ha), zoned for the Central Black Earth region, and the VNIIOZ selection varieties Volgogradka 1 (3.81 t/ha) and Volgogradka 2 (3.78 t/ha), zoned for Lower Volga region were the most promising.

COMPETITIVIDADE E INSERÇÃO DA SOJA BRASILEIRA NO MERCADO INTERNACIONAL

The objective of this paper is to analyze the degree of competitiveness and insertion of Brazilian soy in the foreign market, from 2008 to 2016, through the Symmetric Comparative Advantage Index (IVCRS), the Regional Orientation Index (IOR) and the Constant Market Share method (CMS). The results obtained through the IVCRS revealed that although the United States is the main exporter of the crop, the comparative advantage of Brazil and Argentina is greater today. The CMS model allowed us to identify the main sources of growth of Brazilian exports of the soy agroindustrial complex, where the competitiveness rates obtained significant values, increased from 20.38 to 63.67, indicating that the high rates of Brazilian exports are responsible for the competitiveness. Brazil to produce and export the product. The IOR revealed the main destinations of Brazilian exports of the soy complex. For soybeans, the strong trend of exports to China was remarkable. Soybean meal exports were pulverized and soybean oil exports decreased. It can be concluded that soy complex exports increased significantly due to the Brazilian competitiveness, but with the concentration in only one product, soybeans. Palavras-chave: IVCRS, IOR, Constant Market Share.

Environmental factors, phenology and nutrition: a technical review on the impacts in soybean culture

Considered one of the oldest leguminous used by humanity, soybeans (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) originate in China and have numerous applications in animal and human food, due to their high protein and oil content, satisfactory. The soy complex moves the economy of several countries with employment and income generation. The variation of environmental factors, such as temperature, photoperiod and humidity, influence the growth and consequently the grain production of the crop, so the study of phenology addressing the relationships between climatic factors, seasonal changes and the development cycle is of sum nutrients at the right dose and phase, for proper nutrition and high crop yields.

Postneoliberalism as institutional recalibration: Reading Polanyi through Argentina’s soy boom

While postneoliberalism is often interpreted as a societal reaction against the deleterious effects of marketization in Latin America, this paper develops a finer-grained Polanyian institutional analysis to gain better analytical purchase on the ambivalent outcomes of postneoliberal reforms. Drawing on recent insights in economic geography, and in dialogue with the Latin American structuralist tradition, we elaborate our framework through a case study of the Argentinian soy boom of the 2000s, identifying forms of market extension, redistribution, reciprocity and householding that facilitated this process. We argue for a multi-scalar approach that balances attention to national and extra-local dynamics shaping the combination of these forms, identified through the lens of the “fictitious commodities” of the soy boom: money (credit, currency and cross-border capital flows), land (in the agricultural heartland and frontier regions), labor (transformed and excluded in a “farming without farmers” model) and, we add, knowledge (biotech). Our analysis identifies internal tensions as well as overt resistance and “overflow” that ultimately led to the collapse of postneoliberal regulation of the soy complex, ushering in a wider, market-radical counter-movement. Refracting double-movement-type dynamics through the prism of heterodox institutional forms, we argue, allows for a better grasp of processes that underlie institutional recalibrations of progressive and regressive kinds.

The politics of agrarian change in Bolivia's soy complex

AbstractThis paper analyses the politics of agrarian change in Bolivia in the context of the development and expansion of the soy complex in Santa Cruz. It attempts to contribute to a better understanding of the nature and role of the state in relation to agrarian change through what is referred to here as the state–society–capital nexus. From an “agrarian” to a “productive” revolution in the countryside, this paper situates the rise of the Movement Toward Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo, MAS) to state power and its ability to maintain control over the state apparatus by balancing both accumulation and legitimation interests through its neo‐extractivist development strategy. As extractivist rents fall with the commodities bust and smallholders' exclusion becomes more apparent, the MAS' overextension in facilitating capital accumulation is beginning to show signs of a legitimacy crisis. The politics of agrarian change remain as contested as the dynamics within the state–society–capital nexus.

Agrarian Extractivism in Bolivia

The expansion of Bolivia's agricultural frontier fueled by the development of a soy complex has become part of the state's three-pronged “neo” extractivist development model based on minerals, hydrocarbons, and soybeans. While Bolivia has a long history of mineral and natural gas extraction, the agricultural sector's highly mechanized and capital-intensive character are relatively new developments. Referred to here as “agrarian extractivism” this paper reveals the very extractive nature of soybean production in Bolivia based on four interlinked dimensions: (1) large volumes of materials extracted destined for export with little or no processing; (2) value-chain concentration and sectoral disarticulation (3) high intensity of environmental degradation; and (4) the deterioration of labor opportunities and/or conditions. It is argued here that “agrarian extractivism” is a politically and analytically useful concept for understanding new dynamics and trajectories of agrarian change as it reveals the very extractive nature of capitalist agriculture, particularly in the context of contemporary land grabbing, flex crops, and the increasingly corporatized agro-food system. Rather than a form of industrial agricultural development which implies value-added processing, sectoral linkages, and employment generation, agrarian extractivism challenges this dominant discourse, revealing the various dimensions of social, economic and environmental exploitation and its negative implications for rural development.

Analysis of the application efficiency of the enzyme preparation Ladozim Proxy in the poultry industry

The necessity has been widely noted of improving the nutritional value of forage mixtures used in the poultry industry through the use of enzyme preparations on the basis of phytase for splitting phytic acid and its salts contained in the feed. This technological approach is relevant in feeding farm animals, particularly poultry, as they are unable to synthesise endogenous phytase. On the base of the Agro-Industrial Complex "Oril-Leader" we researched the influence of the enzyme preparation Ladozim Proxy as a feed component for broiler chickens and laying hens on the growth and biochemical parameters of the birds and their egg-laying capacity. The feed ration consisted of wheat, corn, sunflower meal, extruded soy and protein-vitamin complex Biomix. For the research experimental and control groups of broiler chickens were formed (50 birds in each group) and laying hens (20 birds in each group). The experimental feeding period was 35 days for the chickens and 30 days for the hens. The research used physical-chemical methods for determining the content of nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus in the feed, the blood and the excrement of the birds. Statistical data processing was carried out by ANOVA. It was established that the use of Ladozim Proxy in the amount of 60–100 mg/kg feed promotes an increase of the live weight of chickens by 21%. The findings can be explained by an increase of the feed nutrients available for digestion in the gastrointestinal tracts of the poultry due to the hydrolytic action of the enzyme complex added to the phytic-containing components of the feed. The result of these phenomena is also a positive dynamic in assimilation of nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus in the feed by chickens of the experimental group: use of these elements increased by 10–16%. The preparation had no effect on hematological indices of the organisms of the poultry and increased the amount of calcium and phosphorus in the blood. The use of the preparation has not only physiological, but also economic importance because it allows a reduction in feed intake and expenditure on feed for poultry reared for agricultural production. The use of the phytase preparation does not affect the quantitative indicators of egg-laying by hens, but an increase in the thickness of the egg shells was noted, due to deposition of calcium in the organism of the experimental group.

Sacred groves, sacrifice zones and soy production: globalization, intensification and neo-nature in South America

Soy has become one of the world's most important agroindustrial commodities – serving as the nexus for the production of food, animal feed, fuel and hundreds of industrial products – and South America has become its leading production region. The soy boom on this continent entangles transnational capital and commodity flows with social relations deeply embedded in contested ecologies. In this introduction to the collection, we first describe the ‘neo-nature’ of the soy complex and the political economy of the sector in South America, including the new corporate actors and financial mechanisms that produced some of the world's largest agricultural production companies. We then discuss key environmental debates surrounding soy agribusiness in South America, challenging especially the common arguments that agroindustrial intensification ‘spares land’ for conservation while increasing production to ‘feed the world’. We demonstrate that these arguments hinge on limited data from a peculiar portion of the southern Amazon fringe, and obfuscate through neo-Malthusian concerns multiple other political and ecological problems associated with the sector. Thus, discussions of soy production become intertwined with broader debates about agrarian development, industrialization and modernization. Finally, we briefly outline the contributions in this volume, and identify limitations and fruitful directions for further research.

The politics of flexing soybeans: China, Brazil and global agroindustrial restructuring

The political geography of the global soybean complex is shifting. While the complex has long been controlled by US-based transnational corporations, new agribusiness actors, business logics and power relations rooted in South America and East Asia are emerging, based in part on commodity flexing. We explore how soybean flexing is shaping and being shaped by global restructuring of the soybean processing industry. Using the divergent histories and uses of soy in China and Brazil, we propose that in order to understand the changing soy landscape, we must examine the relationships between soy's multiple-ness and flexible-ness, the political economy of soy processing, and the relationships between crop ‘flexors’ – those powerful firms that control the soy complex – with each other and with governments. We demonstrate that the agribusiness actors who are gaining more control over the soy complex are doing so in part through flexing, and that the ability to flex may ultimately determine the trajectory of global agroindustrial restructuring. Finally, we raise questions and make suggestions for further research on flex crops.

Bolivia's soy complex: the development of ‘productive exclusion’

A significant transition is underway in Bolivia where both domestic and foreign capital are monopolizing commercial agriculture and leading a highly mechanized, capital-intensive production model which has considerably diminished the need for labour. This paper explores mechanisms and processes of ‘productive exclusion’ in the soy-producing zones of Santa Cruz in relation to the expansion, concentration and mechanization of the ‘soy complex’. We provide an analysis of how the agrarian structure has developed since soy was adopted – from ‘putting land into production’ to ‘expanding the agricultural frontier’ and ‘controlling the agro-industrial chain’. We explore how and the extent to which the penetration of new capital is leading to new processes of agrarian change which exclude the rural majority from accessing the means of production. While a process of ‘foreignization’ of land began to take shape in the early 1990s, new processes of capital accumulation are eroding the ability of small farmers to engage in productive activity, potentially leading to ‘surplus’ populations no longer needed for capital accumulation.

The “soy-ization” of Argentina: The dynamics of the “globalized” privatization regime in a peripheral context

Based on extensive fieldwork conducted with actors from public, private and associative sectors, we explore the expansion of genetically modified soy in Argentina and we aim to figure out how the neoliberal “globalized privatization regime” unfolded in a peripheral location. Our case points at two inherent contradictions with such a regime's main tenets, namely that it needs a weak antitrust policy (thus leading to a market situation dominated by a monopoly of transnational companies) and a hyper-restrictive system of intellectual property. We highlight the participation of two groups of local actors in the regime. The first group is aligned with the globalized privatization regime agendas, while the second is involved in protest and regulatory actions focusing on the health, environment and safety issues related to the GM soy complex. To a different extent, both groups share a local agenda of resistance and an anti-imperialist imaginary. Both have national development objectives of Argentina in their ideological roots, although their conceptions of “development” are different (industrial development vs. protection of peasants' life and the environment). We conclude that it is not enough to postulate that the neoliberal globalized privatization regime will just expand to the South as it did in Northern countries. Rather, combined with the commercialization of science, peripherality creates protest, activism and local regulation.

Análise da competitividade das exportações do complexo soja brasileiro de 1995 a 2006: uma abordagem de market-share

Este artigo objetivou identificar o comportamento das exportações do complexo soja brasileiro de 1995 a 2006, utilizando o modelo de comércio internacional Constant-Market-Share para os períodos 1995 a 1998, 1999 a 2001 e 2002 a 2006. Com base nas inferências feitas pode-se observar que os efeitos competitividade e crescimento do comércio mundial foram os que mais colaboraram para o crescimento das commodities grão, farelo e óleo de soja nos períodos analisados. As inferências deste trabalho foram feitas a partir de dados coletados junto ao Sistema de Análise das Informações de Comércio Exterior (Alice), da Secretaria de Comércio Exterior (Secex), à Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) e à Organização Mundial do Comércio (OMC). Com base nos resultados encontrados pode-se afirmar que Brasil tem uma importância significativa no comércio mundial de soja e apresenta condições edafoclimáticas favoráveis ao aumento da produção.

Effect of Soy Extract Administration on Losartan Pharmacokinetics in Healthy Female Volunteers

osartan is metabolized by CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 to an active metabolite, E-3174, which has greater antihypertensive activity than the parent compound. Soy extract has been shown to be an activator of CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 in vitro. Coadministration of soy extract and losartan may therefore alter the pharmacokinetics of losartan and E-3174. To determine whether, when losartan was used in combination with soy extract, a significant pharmacokinetic interaction would be observed in healthy female volunteers. Eighteen healthy Chinese female volunteers were recruited. In an open-label, 2-phase study, losartan 50 mg was given to each subject, with and without soy extract. Plasma concentrations of losartan and E-3174 were determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for 12 and 24 hours, respectively. On day 8 through day 21 of the study, following a 7-day washout period, each subject consumed two 1000-mg Genistein Soy Complex tablets orally after meals, twice daily, for 14 days. On day 22, all volunteers received losartan 50 mg and blood samples were collected again. All subjects completed the study, without adverse drug effects. Over the 14-day pretreatment period, soy extract did not significantly influence the pharmacokinetics of losartan or E-3174. The ratio of the area under the curve of the drug and metabolite after losartan administration, with and without soy extract ingestion, was 0.21 +/- 0.05 and 0.23 +/- 0.05 (mean +/- SD), respectively. The difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.22). Our data indicate that a significant interaction between soy extract and losartan is unlikely to occur in females.

Análise comparativa dos custos de produção entre soja transgênica e convencional: um estudo de caso para o Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul

A biotecnologia atingiu o elo primordial do complexo soja, ou seja, os produtores. A soja transgênica promove a redução da quantidade necessária de herbicidas e, consequentemente, o custo de produção. O objetivo deste estudo foi a determinação e comparação do custo médio incorrido na produção de soja convencional e transgênica para o Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul na safra 2004/05, através de dados primários, levantados por pesquisa de campo. No presente trabalho apresenta-se a metodologia adotada tanto para a formação do banco de dados quanto para a estrutura contábil propriamente dita. Partindo de uma mesma base metodológica foi possível calcular que o custo da soja transgênica é aproximadamente 14,8% do que a soja cultivada em sistema convencional.

Incorporation of soy proteins into the wheat–gluten matrix during dough mixing

Farinograph methodology was used to evaluate the possible incorporation of soy proteins into a glutenin–soy complex during mixing and to study the contribution of soy proteins to the chemical and physical properties of the dough. To facilitate the interaction of soy and wheat proteins, a redox process was used, which allowed the partial reduction (using dithiothreitol, DTT) and subsequent reoxidation (using potassium iodate) of glutenin without changing its functionality in the dough (a composite of equal parts of wheat and soy flours, 300 g in total). Either raw soy flour (RSF) or physically modified soy flour (PMSF) was used as the soy component. Dough samples were taken at peak mixing time and at break time during mixing, and these were freeze dried for SE-HPLC analysis and capillary electrophoresis (Lab-on-a-chip). SE-HPLC results showed that soy globulins interact with gluten proteins in the composite dough, forming aggregates of high molecular weight. Partial reduction and oxidation of these doughs at peak mixing time resulted in higher SE-HPLC polymeric protein profiles (HMW) compared to those of control composite doughs, based on extraction and SE-HPLC analyses. Unextractable polymeric protein (UPP%) increased from 21% to 27% (15–25% at break time) as a result of the reduction–reoxidation treatment for the PMSF–wheat doughs. In contrast, %UPP values were much lower for the doughs made from raw soy–wheat flours, with %UPP increasing from 6% to 9% (3–6% at break time) as a result of the reduction–reoxidation treatment. Capillary electrophoresis (Lab-on-a-chip) further revealed that the reduction–reoxidation treatment had facilitated the interaction of glutenin subunits and soy proteins (11S subunits), probably through the oxidation of SH groups.

The risk management effectiveness of multivariate hedging models in the U.S. soy complex

Several authors have proposed sophisticated multivariate hedging strategies which use portfolio theory and complex econometric techniques. Practical application of these techniques requires using historical data to make decisions about future hedging portfolios. This paper tests to see if there is enough stationarity in the data for these models to actually provide better hedging strategies in practice. For the soy complex the results are clear. No statistically significant improvement over naive equal and opposite hedges was found for any of the multivariate hedging models. So far, there is no known evidence that any of these methods perform reliably in practice. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 20:189–204, 2000