<Drumbeat: May 9, 2009 The Oil Drum Transitioning to A Society of Sloth?>

42 comments on Vinod Khosla at Milken Institute: Interview Excerpts

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paal myrtvedt on May 9, 2009 - 9:30pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Are you slow ? CIA factbook over your input ANY DAY .......
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2097.... (SKIP DOWN TO .... ehhh Brazil and scream out loud to yourself)

Brazil arable land: 6.93%
permanent crops: 0.89%
other: 92.18% (2005)

You see .... other lands in Brazil is stated to be 92,18% . And none of that is FALLOW because fallow is RESTING ALREADY ARABLE.

The Cerrado covers 23% of Brazil's land area ??? so.... ? well it's n ot arable per see.
If I tell you the size of Antartica or the Sahara dessert, would that prove anything about Brazils arable land ? I see you just continnue your undocumented and erroneous "methods" - it's a pity

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kdolliso on May 9, 2009 - 9:38pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Here ya go, straight from the horse's mouth

President Luiz Ignacio Lula Da Silva

Lula rejected arguments that biofuels reduce the amount of land available for food production, noting that Brazil has 60 million hectares of unused grasslands that have already been deforested and no longer serve as pasture for livestock but can be "recuperated" for the cultivation of sugar cane and oilseeds to produce biodiesel.

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kdolliso on May 9, 2009 - 9:58pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Uh, Paal, old buddy. If you subtract 0.89 from 6.93 and multiply the difference times 2112 you come out with 127 Million Acres.

The CIA has a pretty "tight" definition of "arable." The definition many use is "suitable for agriculture." Agriculture includes, in most definitions, grazing, rowcropping, truck farming, orchards, etc.

The CIA seems to limit arable to "ready to plant," or somesuch.

BTW, the Ag minister, when referring to the country as a whole came up with, IIRC, 400 Million Acres that could, without cutting down a single tree, and, maintaining their production of other agricultural products, be planted in energy crops.

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paal myrtvedt on May 9, 2009 - 10:47pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

alright fine! It seems to be two sorts of truths out there. One real and one pending. I will stick to reality for some more time - where as you can dream about that area for ethanol.

I had a fast skimming in Wikipedia on that Cerrado area and the prospects are not very good long haul ... The soils are generally very old, deep, and naturally nutrient poor, but it could be made fertile by appropriate additions of phosphorus and lime... and other fertilizers and pest limiters.
Remember this is gonna constitute a grand , if not insurmountable task , remember you are talking about 7 % NEW and ADDITIONAL agro-area of Brazil here ... good luck to all involved, they'll need it .. you and Brazil need "totoneila"'s help to give directions on NPK and more ...

The Cerrado is one of the most threatened ecosystems in Brazil, suffering effects of the agricultural activities ... I see only bad news here.

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kdolliso on May 9, 2009 - 10:59pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

It's a Savannah, Paal. Almost 3 times the size of Texas. Sparsely populated, and lightly farmed.

Heck, they, actually, grew Less soybeans, there, in 2008 than they did in 2003. 53 Million Acres. Out of about 485 Million Acres.

It's a Vast Country, Paal, in a Vast World.

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42 comments on Vinod Khosla at Milken Institute: Interview Excerpts

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