Deforestation and environmental imbalance in the Amazon
SCENARIOS FOR INTENSIFYING BRAZILIAN BEEF LIVESTOCK
In recent years, Brazil has become the country with the largest commercial herd in the world, concomitantly with a significant increase in beef productivity. However, these gains come from the expansion of pasture areas over natural vegetation. Extensive practice, in addition to preventing the achievement of full productivity, is also responsible for several negative environmental impacts, such as GHG emissions. With the purpose of analyzing the impacts of intensification on production, economy and emissions, a simulation tool for cattle production systems was created, allowing the evolution of the herd to be projected until 2030 under different land use and management scenarios.
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METHODOLOGY
Using the model developed on the Dinamica EGO platform called SimPEC, scenarios of livestock intensification in Brazil were simulated. The tool calculates the results of adopting different proposed variables, such as increased meat production, profitability, profitability and GHG emissions, thus making it possible to analyze the best strategies for intensifying Brazilian livestock farming.
RESULTS
All scenarios evaluated lead to an increase in GHG emissions, which would only be mitigated by a smaller herd with greater productivity. To avoid the need for herd growth, productivity per animal must be increased by adopting measures complementary to pasture reform, such as enhancing the animal's weight gain, strategic supplementation and herd confinement. These measures reflect the reduction of emissions and positive productive and environmental results.
