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Impact of Agricultural Activities on the Brazilian Soil Fertility: A Physical and Financial Analysis of Soil Nutrient Balance

  • AGRICULTURAL SOIL SCIENCE AND AGROECOLOGY
  • Published:
Russian Agricultural Sciences Aims and scope

Abstract

This study quantifies the monetary impacts of agricultural production on the fertility of Brazilian soil between 1970 and 2015. Based on the analysis of the monetary balance of soil nutrients (N, P, and K), we found that the expansion of soy cultivation and the increase in use of chemical fertilizers has helped to recover the deficit of 459 million BRL (accumulated between 1970 and 1971). Moreover, it contributed to the generation of an accumulated surplus (until 2015) of 160 million BRL. This significant balance must be accounted for, so that it does not lead to environmental externalities.

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Notes

  1. A certain unanimity exists regarding soybean N self-sufficiency. However, some authors such as Lamond and Wesley (2001) and Rodrigues Alves et al. (2006), among others, argue that the application of N fertilizers can increase soybean yield by taking advantage of the absorption rate of the plant. In this study, self-sufficiency was accepted due to the greater acceptance in literature.

  2. The soybean BNF leaves residual N amounting to 35–45 kg ha–1. Additionally, there is an average mineralization release of 20 kg N for every 1% of MOS. Considering that farm soils have 3% of MOS, the amount of N released was calculated to be 60 kg ha–1. Thus, farm soils can provide N amounting to 100 kg ha–1 for corn planted after soybean (Gitti, 2013). According to (CONAB, 2016), an average of 5.562 kg/hectare of corn was harvested as secondary harvest, which translates to a productivity that requires extraction of an average of 135 kg N per ha (Gitti, 2013). As 100 kg enters the soil via BNF, it was found that 74% of the extracted N is from BNF by soybean.

  3. The mean was calculated from the participation of BNF in the development of two bean varieties over four different periods (17, 31, 58, and 78 days after sowing) using the Difference Method (Brito et al., 2009).

  4. General prices Index—Internal Availability by Getulio Vargas Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Federal University of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso, Brazil

    W. Colman de Azevedo Junior

  2. Federal Rural University of Amazon, 2501, Presidente Tancredo Neves Ave. Belém, PA 66077-830B, Brazil

    A. Cordeiro de Santana

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Correspondence to W. Colman de Azevedo Junior.

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de Azevedo Junior, W.C., Cordeiro de Santana, A. Impact of Agricultural Activities on the Brazilian Soil Fertility: A Physical and Financial Analysis of Soil Nutrient Balance. Russ. Agricult. Sci. 48, 30–39 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3103/S1068367422020021

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