Soy has revolutionized the economies of South American countries like Brazil, Argentina Uruguay and Paraguay. Argentina is the world's number 3 soybean supplier and its top exporter of soymeal, used to feed cattle, and soyoil, used in the booming biofuels sector. As a result, the Argentine Pampa looks nothing like it did 20 years ago; soybean plantations have now replaced the fruit trees and cattle farming of previous years.
Watch the video and answer the questions below. Decide if the statements are True or False.
1. Gustavo Marini still owns the land that belonged to his father.
a. True
b. False
2. The production of soy is nearly four times greater than it was fifteen years ago.
a. True
b. False
3. Corn and wheat are as profitable as soy.
a. True
b. False
For transcript and answers see below.
Transcript and Answers:
Until 7 years ago Gustavo Marini owned land with lemons trees near Rosario in Argentina. Inherited from his father, he spent his holidays there as a child and remembers it as a small paradise.
“There you had animals, your own little cow, your own pig, your chicken. It was a very different life from the one we have now because you could live with nature a lot more easily than my kids do now.”
But Argentina’s economic reality ultimately caught up with him. Lemon trees just weren’t profitable so he was forced to sell up and buy another plot where he grows soy, the world’s green gold.
“I was basically the last one in this southern zone of the Santa Fe province who had lemons and then decided to change. The fact is that this land had a sentimental value to me so I tried to keep it until the very end.”
Gustavo’s story is similar to many other cattle breeders or fruit growers in the Santa Fe region where many have either turned to soy or have been forced off the most fertile land.
“Economically, soy production is Argentina’s most important crop. Argentina has increased its production of soy in the past 15 years; it’s something that has two sub products which is oil and vegetable proteins. According to various studies, it represents about 10% of the country’s GDP.”
Soy production has increased nearly fourfold in the past 15 years to reach 49 million tons this last year. The boom is mainly due to huge demand from rising powers like China and India. As their middle class grows, so does their consumption of meat and protein-rich soybean meal is a main staple in cattle feed. International soy prices on Rosario’s stock exchange have soared from about 150 dollars a ton a decade ago to more than 500 dollars today. Even though soy helped Argentina emerge from the economic crash in 2000, over-reliance on one main crop has risks. It depletes the land and exposes crops to a greater risk of disease.
“We need rotation, specifically we need to combine cereals and oleaginous crops and I think that’s going to be one of the challenges that Argentina will have to meet in the future, through specific policies.”
Gustavo rotates soybean with corn, to preserve his land’s productivity. But with corn and wheat considerably less profitable, many farmers focus solely on soy in a bid to maximize profits. But short term gain could potentially spell long term dangers for Argentina’s food security and its still struggling economy.
Answers:
1. b
2. a
3. b
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