Virtual and Embedded Nutrient Flows from Soybean Production in Mato Grosso, Brazil

The increase in international trade of agricultural products has enabled consumers to take advantage of distant resources to secure their provision of food. However, such a relationship has also distanced consumers from producers, resulting in environmental footprints often externalized to distant countries. For example, half of all soybeans grown in the state of Mato Grosso, the largest Brazilian soybean producer this past decade, were exported to China and Europe in 2009. This study looks at nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) use related to Mato Grosso soybean production and exports to China and Europe in the 2000-2009 period. More specifically we look at 'virtual' and 'embedded' NPK flows to China and Europe, where 'virtual' represents NPK inputs associated with soybean production but not actually embedded in the exported soybeans, and 'embedded' represents the NPK contained within the soybeans. Both virtual and embedded NPK export flows more than doubled between 2000 and 2009, with embedded NPK flows up to 18 times larger than virtual flows on an annual basis. We also quantify nutrient balances resulting from the soybean trade including imported and domestically produced fertilizer. Initial results suggest that the majority of embedded N may cause an issue for importing countries, while virtual P is mostly externalized to Mato Grosso which must rely on limited national production and fertilizer imports to meet P needs. This study contributes towards a more comprehensive understanding of the use of nutrients in soybean production as a component of a more complete environmental impact assessment of this agricultural product.