The influence of transgenic soybean farming in the environmental degradation of the Pampa of Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

This article discusses some of the environmental impacts of transgenic soybean farming in the territories of the five main producing municipalities in the produced area of ​​the state of Rio Grande do Sul – Tupanciretã, São Gabriel, Júlio de Castilhos, Cachoeira do Sul and Dom Pedrito. These territories occupy the morphoclimatic and phytogeographical domain of the Pampa, which has been the most deforested in recent decades in the country, mainly for conversion to transgenic soybean farming. This process is taking place against the backdrop of the soya commodity, which has been expanding greatly. Through cartographic analysis of land use, the considerable vegetative loss in the Pampa is notable. This affects the diversity of flora and fauna, degrades the soil by turning it over and making it unprotected for agriculture and compromises the region's climate and water balance. At the same time, poisoning occurs due to pesticides used massively in the management of transgenic crops. The rivers in these territories - Jaguari, Vacacaí, Toropi, Jacuí and Santa Maria -, after field research and laboratory analysis, showed contamination by various pesticides, some of them banned by Anvisa. The conclusion is that transgenic sojiculture causes various environmental impacts, deriving from the hegemonic dynamics of the cultivar, which ignores and does not include the environmental cost of the problems generated, threatening the various forms of life in the Pampa.

Keywords: Transgenic soybean farming; Pampa; Deforestation; Intoxication.