In the early 1990’s the ever-increasing degradation of the environment in various parts of the world provoked a substantial movement in defence of the planet. This culminated with the creation of Agenda 21, a protocol of intentions signed by the majority of the United Nations member countries, which, among many measures, forecast actions to reduce the emission of pollutants, to combat poverty and the promotion of techniques that viabilise production without threatening the environment.

The debate provoked through communications about Agenda 21 resulted in some changes in consumer behaviour and in commercial activities. The consumer, for example, could know if a certain product was manufactured through a non-environmental degrading process, or if those who worked in the process were justly remunerated. These are questions that came to be as decisive as product price or quality at the moment of purchase.

These are questions that determined the entry of Brazilian crop and livestock products to demanding markets such as the EU, Japan and the USA for example. Realizing this, companies representing various links in the Brazilian agro-business chain, responsible for the annual movement of R$ 500 billion, did not want to be excluded from these markets and sought to modernize. Today, more than ever, the growth of certifying firms that concede certificates of international quality is evident and without these any export operation would become practically unviable.

In the search for production models that link high productivity to environmental conservation and economic and social development, the Brazilian crop-livestock companies turned to a technology relatively new to Brazil. This was direct drilling and the crop rotation system, which is basically the interruption of monoculture, a heritage from the colonial era of Brazil’s history. It involves the alternate cultivation of different crops (soybean, maize, sorghum and cotton etc.) and pastures in a same area.

This technology revolutionized crop-livestock production in the 1970’s and, to date, is the production system that gives the farmer the best results. Direct drilling lessens: soil fatigue, organic material oxidation, erosion - and consequently silting of rivers, floods - allowing a greater water penetration and repletion of reserves and making more water available during the dry season. It goes without saying that the system improves the productivity of the crops in rotation, conserving soil organic material.

Another advantage of direct drilling lies in the economy of fossil fuels. Soybean naturally fixes atmospheric nitrogen in the soil and the quantity is so great that it equals all the mineral nitrogen sold in Brazil.

Direct drilling solves the principal environmental problems of a production system that envisages productivity, environment and development. There is still much to be done in relation to human rights and in respect to labour laws in order to guarantee that the workers in the agro-business production chains have the right to dignified life standards.