SOCIOENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE BUSINESS AGRICULTURE EXPANSION IN THE GEOGRAPHICAL MICROREGION IN THE SOUTHWEST OF GOIÁS

Abstract

The study aims to analyze the expansion of business agriculture in the Geographical Microregion of Southwest Goiás, through land use and land cover mapping. The time frame of the research comprises the period between 1985 and 2019, with reference to the years 1985, 1995, 2006, 2017 and 2019. The research was carried out through a bibliographic review and compilation of data from the MapBiomas platform, which resulted in eight maps produced using Qgis (3.18). In addition, data about the agricultural cultivation area of the Geographic Microregion collected by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics - IBGE were presented. The main results obtained indicate a reduction in the vegetation area, with a loss of 911,790.20 hectares, equivalent to 87.46% between 1985 and 2019, due to the expansion of areas for business agriculture and pastures. It was evident the expansion of harvested areas (hectares) aimed at commodity production to the detriment of the reduction of the area used for the cultivation of other crops. The study demonstrates that the use of land in the micro-region has been predominantly for the formation of pastures, however, in the last two decades, these areas have been converted to commercial agriculture.