Brazil Defends Agribusiness Expansion Amid Global Pressure On Amazon Fires

SAO PAULO (Brazil), Aug 29 (NNN-XINHUA) — Brazil will keep developing its agribusiness sector with lower usage of water and land to maintain production sustainability, Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias said.

“Brazil is a powerhouse in food production, but also a power in environmental protection. We make everything we produce sustainable,” the minister said during an agribusiness event in Sao Paulo.

Brazil has come under pressure from the international community to better preserve the Amazon rainforest after a series of fires have razed vast swaths of forest this year.

Dias said Brazil must persevere in the expansion of its agribusiness sector despite recent international criticism, stressing that the country has, in the past few years, made significant investments in technology to boost productivity and efficiency.

“We will keep working and producing with lower water usage,” said the minister,adding that Brazil’s meat production have also progressively come to use smaller pasture areas.