Genealogy of the soyacene: The tropical bonanza of soya bean farming during the great acceleration

Abstract

This article examines the expansion of soya bean farming in the Latin American Southern Cone, analysing the main historical drives that led to the rise of this Asian-born grain at tropical latitudes. Drawing on the methodological tools of global environmental history, it provides a historical reconstruction of the biotechnological innovations that allowed this expansion and the ecological consequences of this agricultural revolution. After a brief chronology of the grain's introduction at the subtropical latitudes of southern Brazil and Argentina, the article looks at the genetic improvements that have allowed soya bean cultivation to progressively shift towards warmer latitudes since the 1970s, a process further accelerated by the breeding of transgenic varieties during the 1990s. Finally, it describes the social and ecological issues brought by the tropical bonanza of soya beans. This ongoing process will undoubtedly continue to permeate nutrition regimes and sustainability debates in Latin America and possibly in other parts of the world for years to come.