FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

The considerations below are additional and are based on reports from audit clients and rural producers approached through interviews, or during consultations. These considerations do not reflect the opinion of the authors.

● Deforestation control through a certification program ensures that, while certified, all members are periodically monitored for compliance with its requirements. The level of compliance and criteria can vary, especially in private programs that define their own criteria and acceptable limits.

● The RTRS proved to be the only effective, voluntary and public certification program for the soy chain. It includes strict entry criteria in relation to deforestation, which ensures the market the acquisition of products from farms free of deforestation, while it can restrict access to farms that have deforestation, even through subsequent regularization.

● Individual small rural producers may face difficulty in accessing the RTRS due to the investment value. These, not obtaining market advantage for marketing their products in a sustainable way, may be discouraged from complying with additional environmental preservation requirements, as reported by them, through interviews. The RTRS is a market barrier and can be difficult depending on the size and productive capacity of the farm.

● There is a market trend towards compliance with environmental legislation, including deforestation. This trend has been driven by the themeof sustainability.Small producers may find themselves limited in entering and joining if they do not obtain financial and technological support, given the need for investment. These reports are from producers who were unable to enter a certification program.

● Private programs have strongly encouraged the adhesion of rural producers who meet a target for the volume of soy produced. This soybean can be physically traded, as well as having only its credits traded. Additionally, traders assume the audit costs, if the farm meets their requirements, which is a viable alternative. These programs require compliance with national legislation regarding the environment, in addition to other aspects, definitely contributing to the protection of areas of environmental interest.

Finally, according to the National Supply Company CONAB, the soy planted area for the 2022/2023 harvest corresponds to 43,529.9 thousand hectares with an estimated production of 151,419.4 thousand tons and average productivity of 3479 kg/ha. Analyzing the history of the productive area and production since the 2008/2009 harvest, it is possible to notice the significant increase in the cultivation area. The increase in the cultivation area is related to deforestation, initially fostered for the expansion of agricultural frontiers into the Midwest.

The frameworks adopted to stop the unbridled expansion and legalize the deforestation process took shape in the last 20 years. The year 2008 and the established limit was 2008 in several markets and legislation applied to the conversion of land use, especially in relation to deforestation. The evaluation of the increase in production in the context of deforestation makes it possible to relate the productive capacity and the behavior of the expansion of the cultivated area over time. Territorial expansion is linear while production depends on several factors, such as climate, technology, market, among other variables that may have influenced each harvest. The graph below illustrates in blue the planted area (in 1000 ha) and in orange the soybean production between the 2008/2009 and 2022/2023 harvests (estimate).

Source: CONAB

For regional analysis within Brazil, the graphs below illustrate respectively the area planted by region, production and regional average productivity. Note that there are valleys in the graph that correspond to bad weather and climate abnormalities that occurred at the time. In general, the Midwest region, which corresponds to the states of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, and Tocantins, are the largest national producers, while the southern region is the second largest producer. Soy was initially produced in the southern region, and with technological advances it expanded its territory, moving towards the Midwest. Comparing the average productivity of the regions, there is a proximity between the regions.