Barely two generations ago, the rolling hills in Brazil's heartland were a knot of short, brittle trees and acidic soil considered unfit for agriculture. But on a recent morning, a harvester cut through golden husks of wheat on Paulo Kramer's farm. Wheat, of course, is a temperate crop that flourishes in places like Kansas. But in Cerrado, a vast savannah, wheat varieties created for tropical climates and nutrient-poor soil bloom alongside corn, soybeans and cotton.
Once a wasteland, the Cerrado is now the motor of an agro-industry so potent that Brazil threatens to surpass the US as breadbasket to the world. The answer to how that transformation happened can be found at a government-run agricultural research centre Embrapa where scientists make Brazil's poor soils fertile while developing crop varieties that will thrive.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Innovation turns Brazil into an agro-power - Hindustan Times
Author: Juan Forero, The Washington Post
