The development of brazilian agriculture and future challenges.

Over the last four decades, Brazilian agriculture has stepped up to the challenges posed by society. In the 1970s, the four major challenges posed on the sector were: 1) to ensure food supply at reasonable prices, especially for cities that were undergoing heavy migratory flow from the rural population6; 2) to foster the development of the interior of Brazil, generating jobs, income and welfare to the rural population; 3) to ensure the occupation of the Brazilian territory and to preserve the Brazilian base of natural resources ; 4) to create production surplus to export, generating financial resources to boost other sectors of the economy. This article is structured in four sections, the first of which is this introduction. In the second section we explore some aspects of the development style of Brazilian agriculture over the last 40 years8. In section three, we focus on the determining factors of the production capacity of Brazilian agriculture. In the fourth and last section, we discuss the challenges and opportunities to consolidate a leading position for Brazilian agriculture in the global scenario