IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v65y2008i2p420-431.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An interdisciplinary model of soybean yield in the Amazon Basin: The climatic, edaphic, and economic determinants

Author

Listed:
  • Vera-Diaz, Maria del Carmen
  • Kaufmann, Robert K.
  • Nepstad, Daniel C.
  • Schlesinger, Peter

Abstract

Soybean production is one of the main economic forces driving the expansion of the agricultural frontier in the Brazilian Amazon. To assess the potential for expansion we estimate a model of soybean yield that integrates the major climatic, edaphic, and economic determinants in the Amazon Basin. Yield is modeled as a function of yield as simulated by a crop physiology model that captures the effects of climate and physical attributes on the development of soybean plant; fertilizer applications; and economic/spatial parameters such as credit, transports costs and latitude. Current values of these determinants indicate that roughly 20% of Amazon Region or ~Â 1,000,000Â km2 (excluding protected areas) can generate yields greater than 2000Â kg/ha. Soybean production may be possible over a wider area of Amazon, but realizing this potential requires improvements in economic determinants such as the transportation infrastructure.

Suggested Citation

  • Vera-Diaz, Maria del Carmen & Kaufmann, Robert K. & Nepstad, Daniel C. & Schlesinger, Peter, 2008. "An interdisciplinary model of soybean yield in the Amazon Basin: The climatic, edaphic, and economic determinants," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 420-431, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:65:y:2008:i:2:p:420-431
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921-8009(07)00403-X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Georgia Carvalho & Ana Cristina Barros & Paulo Moutinho & Daniel Nepstad, 2001. "Sensitive development could protect Amazonia instead of destroying it," Nature, Nature, vol. 409(6817), pages 131-131, January.
    2. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    3. Chang, Ching-Cheng, 2002. "The potential impact of climate change on Taiwan's agriculture," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 51-64, May.
    4. Hansen, LeRoy T., 1991. "Farmer Response to Changes in Climate: The Case of Corn Production," Journal of Agricultural Economics Research, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, vol. 43(4), pages 1-8.
    5. Pfaff, Alexander S. P., 1999. "What Drives Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon?: Evidence from Satellite and Socioeconomic Data," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 26-43, January.
    6. Andersen,Lykke E. & Granger,Clive W. J. & Reis,Eustaquio J. & Weinhold,Diana & Wunder,Sven, 2002. "The Dynamics of Deforestation and Economic Growth in the Brazilian Amazon," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521811972.
    7. Garcia-Paredes, J. D. & Olson, K. R. & Lang, J. M., 2000. "Predicting corn and soybean productivity for Illinois soils," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 151-170, June.
    8. Welch, S. M. & Jones, J. W. & Brennan, M. W. & Reeder, G. & Jacobson, B. M., 2002. "PCYield: model-based decision support for soybean production," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 79-98, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Milazzo, M.F. & Spina, F. & Cavallaro, S. & Bart, J.C.J., 2013. "Sustainable soy biodiesel," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 806-852.
    2. Pacheco, Pablo, 2009. "Agrarian Reform in the Brazilian Amazon: Its Implications for Land Distribution and Deforestation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1337-1347, August.
    3. Weinhold, Diana & Killick, Evan & Reis, Eustáquio J., 2013. "Soybeans, Poverty and Inequality in the Brazilian Amazon," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 132-143.
    4. Kevin Gallagher & Roberto Porzecanski, 2009. "China and the Latin America Commodities Boom: A Critical Assessment," Working Papers wp192, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    5. Avery S. Cohn & Juliana Gil & Thomas Berger & Heitor Pellegrina & Chantal Toledo, "undated". "Patterns and Processes of Pasture to Crop Conversion in Brazil: Evidence from Mato Grosso State," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 8ce99775615f42b98ff43f530, Mathematica Policy Research.
    6. Paudel, Krishna P. & Timilsina, Govinda R., 2010. "Would There Be Surplus Grains for Biofuels? An Assessment of Agro-economic Factors and Biofuel Production Potential at the Global Level," Staff Papers 113125, Louisiana State University, Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness.
    7. Maria del Carmen Vera-Diaz & Robert K. Kaufmann & Daniel C. Nepstad, "undated". "The Environmental Impacts of Soybean Expansion and Infrastructure Development in Brazil’s Amazon Basin," GDAE Working Papers 09-05, GDAE, Tufts University.
    8. Mann, Michael L. & Kaufmann, Robert K. & Bauer, Dana Marie & Gopal, Sucharita & Nomack, Mallory & Womack, Jesse Y. & Sullivan, Kerry & Soares-Filho, Britaldo S., 2014. "Pasture conversion and competitive cattle rents in the Amazon," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 182-190.
    9. May, Peter H. & Soares-Filho, Britaldo Silveira & Strand, Jon, 2013. "How much is the Amazon worth ? the state of knowledge concerning the value of preserving amazon rainforests," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6668, The World Bank.
    10. Mann, Michael L. & Kaufmann, Robert K. & Bauer, Dana & Gopal, Sucharita & Vera-Diaz, Maria Del Carmen & Nepstad, Daniel & Merry, Frank & Kallay, Jennifer & Amacher, Gregory S., 2010. "The economics of cropland conversion in Amazonia: The importance of agricultural rent," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 1503-1509, May.
    11. Vera-Diaz, Maria del Carmen & Kaufmann, Robert K. & Nepstad, Daniel C., 2009. "The Environmental Impacts of Soybean Expansion and Infrastructure Development in Brazil’s Amazon Basin," Working Papers 179072, Tufts University, Global Development and Environment Institute.
    12. Hampf, Anna C. & Carauta, Marcelo & Latynskiy, Evgeny & Libera, Affonso A.D. & Monteiro, Leonardo & Sentelhas, Paulo & Troost, Christian & Berger, Thomas & Nendel, Claas, 2018. "The biophysical and socio-economic dimension of yield gaps in the southern Amazon – A bio-economic modelling approach," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 1-13.
    13. Morello, Thiago Fonseca & Piketty, Marie-Gabrielle & Gardner, Toby & Parry, Luke & Barlow, Jos & Ferreira, Joice & Tancredi, Nicola S., 2018. "Fertilizer Adoption by Smallholders in the Brazilian Amazon: Farm-level Evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 278-291.
    14. Michael Mann & Robert Kaufmann & Dana Bauer & Sucharita Gopal & James Baldwin & Maria Del Carmen Vera-Diaz, 2012. "Ecosystem Service Value and Agricultural Conversion in the Amazon: Implications for Policy Intervention," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 53(2), pages 279-295, October.
    15. Peter Richards, 2018. "It’s not just where you farm; it’s whether your neighbor does too. How agglomeration economies are shaping new agricultural landscapes," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 87-110.
    16. Yong Jiang & Won Koo, 2014. "Estimating the local effect of weather on field crop production with unobserved producer behavior: a bioeconomic modeling framework," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 16(3), pages 279-302, July.
    17. Lisa L. Rausch & Holly K. Gibbs, 2016. "Property Arrangements and Soy Governance in the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso: Implications for Deforestation-Free Production," Land, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-16, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sébastien Marchand, 2011. "Technical Efficiency, Farm Size and Tropical Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazonian Forest," CERDI Working papers halshs-00552981, HAL.
    2. Alexandre Sauquet & Sébastien Marchand & José Gustavo Feres, 2012. "Ecological Fiscal Incentives and Spatial Strategic Interactions: the Case of the ICMS-E in the Brazilian state of Paraná," CERDI Working papers halshs-00700474, HAL.
    3. Araujo, Claudio & Bonjean, Catherine Araujo & Combes, Jean-Louis & Combes Motel, Pascale & Reis, Eustaquio J., 2009. "Property rights and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(8-9), pages 2461-2468, June.
    4. Pfaff, Alexander S. P. & Robalino, Juan & Reis, Eustaquio J. & Walker, Robert & Perz, Stephen & Laurance, William & Bohrer, Claudio & Aldrich, Steven & Arima, Eugenio & Caldas, Marcellus & Kirby, Kath, 2018. "Roads & SDGs, tradeoffs and synergies: Learning from Brazil's Amazon in distinguishing frontiers," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 12, pages 1-26.
    5. Kaczan, David J., 2020. "Can roads contribute to forest transitions?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    6. Araujo, Claudio & Bonjean, Catherine Araujo & Combes, Jean Louis & Motel, Pascal Combes & Reis, Eustaquio Jose, 2008. "Land Reform And Deforestation In The Brazilian Amazonia," 46th Congress, July 20-23, 2008, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil 108618, Sociedade Brasileira de Economia, Administracao e Sociologia Rural (SOBER).
    7. Sonia SCHWARTZ & Jean Galbert ONGONO OLINGA & Eric Nazindigouba KERE & Pascale COMBES MOTEL & Jean-Louis COMBES & Johanna CHOUMERT & Ariane Manuela AMIN, 2014. "A spatial econometric approach to spillover effects between protected areas and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," Working Papers 201406, CERDI.
    8. Claudio ARAUJO & Catherine ARAUJO BONJEAN & Jean-Louis COMBES & Pascale COMBES MOTEL & Eustaquio J. REIS, 2005. "Insécurité foncière et déforestation dans l'Amazonie brésilienne," Working Papers 200516, CERDI.
    9. Andrea Chávez Michaelsen & Leticia Huamani Briceño & Ronny Fernandez Menis & Nemin Bejar Chura & Frank Valera Tito & Stephen Perz & I. Foster Brown & Sandro Domínguez Del Aguila & Raúl Pinedo Mora & G, 2013. "Regional Deforestation Trends within Local Realities: Land-Cover Change in Southeastern Peru 1996–2011," Land, MDPI, vol. 2(2), pages 1-27, April.
    10. Pascale COMBES MOTEL & Jean-Louis COMBES & Catherine ARAUJO BONJEAN & Claudio ARAUJO & Eustaquio J. REIS, 2010. "Does Land Tenure Insecurity Drive Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon?," Working Papers 201013, CERDI.
    11. Andrade de Sá, Saraly & Palmer, Charles & di Falco, Salvatore, 2013. "Dynamics of indirect land-use change: Empirical evidence from Brazil," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 377-393.
    12. Jorge Hargrave Gonçalves da Silva, 2011. "Economic Causes ofDeforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: an Empirical Analysis of the2000s," Anais do XXXVII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 37th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 190, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    13. Shi, Miaoying & Yin, Runsheng & Lv, Hongdi, 2017. "An empirical analysis of the driving forces of forest cover change in northeast China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 78-87.
    14. Marchand, Sébastien, 2012. "The relationship between technical efficiency in agriculture and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 166-175.
    15. González-Val, Rafael & Pueyo, Fernando, 2012. "Trade liberalisation and global-scale forest transition," MPRA Paper 36271, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Ahmad, Munir & Nawaz, Muhammad & Iqbal, Muhammad & Javed, Sajid, 2014. "Analysing the Impact of Climate Change on Rice Productivity in Pakistan," MPRA Paper 72861, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Danilo Camargo Igliori, 2006. "Deforestation, Growth And Agglomeration Effects: Evidence From Agriculture In The Brazilian Amazon," Anais do XXXIV Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 34th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 102, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    18. Mendonça, Mário Jorge & Loureiro, Paulo R.A. & Sachsida, Adolfo, 2012. "The dynamics of land-use in Brazilian Amazon," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 23-36.
    19. Robalino, Juan A. & Pfaff, Alexander, 2012. "Contagious development: Neighbor interactions in deforestation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 427-436.
    20. Caviglia-Harris, Jill L. & Harris, Daniel, 2011. "The Impact of Settlement Design on Tropical Deforestation Rates and Resulting Land Cover Patterns," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 40(3), pages 1-20, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:65:y:2008:i:2:p:420-431. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.