Prospects for Agricultural Production in Latin America

Abstract

Fortunately, Latin America has plentiful land and water resources for agricultural development. In the early 1970s about 81 million hectares of land were cropped in the region. This is only about 17% of the estimated total land potentially suited for crop growing in Latin America, while in the world as a whole 42% of the potential farmland is actually cultivated. In some areas, such as Mexico, a large proportion of the suitable land is already growing crops, while in others, like Brazil, only a small portion of the arable land is planted. Much of the land available for expansion is currently in remote frontier areas or is now in pasture, much of which will be freed if more technologically advanced pasture use methods are adopted. In many countries, particularly Argentina and Uruguay, large areas that could be rich cropland are used for extensive grazing.