20091208 Key to Brazil's deforestation may be in its cows, pastures

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn Brazil's ability to meet its ambitious 2020 target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent from 2005 levels depends largely on the ability of its agriculture sector, and particularly its huge cattle industry, to meet growing world demand without destroying more forest. The cattle industry is the main culprit of deforestation, which accounts for around 75 percent of carbon emissions in Brazil, one of the top global emitters. "Our producers know if they try to expand their land, they won't have a market anymore. They'll have to use the area they have better," Agriculture Minister Reinhold Stephanes said. "We have the land and technology today that allows us to expand cattle ranching without chopping down a single tree," said researcher Luiz Carlos Balbino. He said Brazil can double or triple beef production without deforesting by boosting the productivity of existing pastures, recovering degraded grass lands, and developing as much as 50 million hectares of unforested savannah.