Abstract
The Low-carbon Agriculture Plan in Brazil (ABC Plan) tries to conciliate sustainable growth of agricultural production and minimize the environmental impacts promoted by land-use changes. The agriculture, forest and other land uses (AFOLU) sector is the main source of GHG emissions in Brazil reaching in 2015 67% (1,310 Mt CO2eq) of total emissions. The implementation of pasture recovery and integrated systems technologies are therefore seen as a promising strategy for sustainable agricultural intensification in Brazil, since they can increase the organic matter in the soil, sequester carbon, as well as increase the production per hectare. This article analysis the relationship between these technologies and the land-sparing concept. Considering only the economic aspects of ABC Plan, the outcomes suggest that the interaction of both technologies promotes the land-spare effect in Brazil as a whole. There is a increase of natural and forest areas, specially those inside the rural establishments. However, the regional results show a different dynamic in the agricultural frontier. These regions intensify the pasture use to the detriment of native vegetation and forests areas.
