Sustainability assessment of soybean production in Southern Brazil: A life cycle approach

Brazil is one of the leaders in soybean cultivation and Rio Grande do Sul state (RS, Southern Brazil) is one of the most important soybean producing regions in the country. Various studies have indicated the environmental impacts of soybean cultivation, however there is a lack of research into other dimensions of sustainability concerning the production of this crop. Thus, this study aims to verify the level of sustainability of soybean production in RS based on the soybean life cycle. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment was used to qualify and quantify nine impact categories and/or stakeholders: acidification, eutrophication and global warming potential; supply, infrastructure and maintenance costs; financial expenses, workers, local communities and society, and value chain actors. Data were gathered using both questionnaires and secondary data collections (specific and generic). The most critical impacts in each dimension were eutrophication (environmental), supply costs (economic) and the stakeholders local communities/society (social). RS soybean has a good level of sustainability and the social dimension is perceived to have the highest potential of improvement. The results indicate some trends to improve soybean sustainability in RS state. However, due to the complexity of the evaluation, proposed changes must be evaluated carefully as they may affect the impacts of the three evaluated dimensions.