Brazil: The Next Breadbasket of the World

Brazil is quickly becoming the new breadbasket of the world. There are struggles though. Besides the internal political battles and the normal battle with the environment, Brazilian farmers often must also battle the world's environmentalists.

The Amazon basin and accompanying jungle are important reservoirs of biological diversity. Care must be used to retain that diverse environment. Many important drugs will be derived from the plants there. We also must consider the potential food plants that have fed the native populations for centuries.

Growth of the farming sector must consider the value of the native flora and fauna. It will be interesting to watch them "walk the tightrope" of development.

As the article mentions, one of their more daunting problems is developing infrastructure at a pace that will meet the needs of development.

Brazil's farms see quiet revolution


By Gary Duffy BBC News,
Sao Paulo

On the family farm run by Joao Baggio Neto in the southern Brazilian state of Parana, you get some sense of the determination and competitive spirit that motivates Brazil's farmers.

Blessed with what often seems like endless amounts of land and a good climate, Brazil has grown in recent years to become an agricultural superpower.

Joao Baggio says the most important improvement in his part of the country in the past decade has been the increase in productivity.

"We came from a...(complete article here).

Chicken Litter

There have been several articles recently concerning a shortage of phosphate fertilizers -- especially in certain parts of the world. Maybe, rather than research to reduce the amount of phosphorous in chicken litter, we should be researching ways to increase the output and concentration of phosphorous in the litter, then focus on ways to extract that concentrated phosphorous as a phosphate for export to China which seems to be one of the areas suffering a shortage. Brazil, which already imports large amounts of phosphate from the U.S. would be another potential customer.

CSREES Research Results

Modified Diet Reduces Chickens' Impact on Environment

Media Contact:Jennifer Martin (202) 720-8188

October 30 , 2007 By Stacy Kish

Chickens, like millions of Americans, are beginning a new diet. But instead of reducing their waists, this diet is intended to cut out excess waste, which creates a major pollution problem for waterways. Scientists at the University of Delaware devised a new poultry feed that limits the impact of animals on the environment.

William Saylor and colleagues at the University of Delaware evaluated a natural enzyme, called phytase, which helps animals digest more phosphorus. The addition of the enzyme to animal feed resulted in a 23 percent reduction in the phosphorus content of chicken manure.

Phosphorus is an integral component in any animal's diet, but scientists have known for some time that animals do not digest much of the phosphorus in most animal feed. Poultry are...(complete article here).