Data obtained by MapBiomas through the analysis of satellite images between 1985 and 2020 show that the total agricultural area mapped in Brazil increased from 19 million hectares in 1985 to 55 million hectares in 2020. Of this total, 36 million hectares are soybeans, with 4.3% of the national territory – an area comparable to the entire Republic of Congo and bigger than countries like Italy, Vietnam or Malaysia. Half of this total is in the Cerrado region, which has advanced over the past 36 years to 16.8 million hectares. In the Amazon, soy growth started in the early 2000s, reaching 5.2 million hectares, 14% of the total planted area. By 26% of the country’s soy area is in the Atlantic Forest, which expanded by 7.9 million hectares between 1985 and 2020. The growth of sugarcane in the mapped area was 291% between 1985 and 2020. In 2020, sugarcane crop reached 9 million hectares, an area comparable to a quarter of the soybean area.
Sources: Acessória de Comunicação MapBiomass/Noticias Agrícolas (*Translated by Ia Niani)