Brazil has rejected criticism that it was destroying the Amazon rain forest to produce soy and beef.Agriculture Minister Luis Carlos Guedes Pinto said that only 0.27 percent of Brazil's soybean crop is grown in the Amazon region. Brazil produced a record 53.4 million tonnes of soybeans in 2005/05 (Oct/Sept).
Speaking at the opening of Biofach America Latina organic food products fair in Sao Paulo, he said that less than 1.5 percent of beef production comes from the Amazon.
