The world’s population faces serious challenges related to food security, particularly in the agribusiness sector, as it grapples with dependence on mineral fertilizers in key producing regions, susceptible to tariff policy fluctuations and wars, amid climate change and population growth, despite increased food production enabled by new technologies and management practices. This narrative review synthesizes evidence on the main challenges to food security in Brazil, with emphasis on how agricultural production, land use, and mineral fertilizer dependence interact under global climate change. We employed comprehensive literature review methods and analyzed data from national and international agencies to compile relevant information on the influence of this scenario on agricultural production, providing an overview of the topic to understand trends and future projections of these challenges. The results revealed significant vulnerabilities in the sector, especially concerning reliance on imported mineral fertilizers to meet its full demand. In 2024, Brazil imported approximately 90% of the mineral fertilizers used in its agricultural sector, which heightens exposure to geopolitical and market shocks. Moreover, climate change also negatively impacts agriculture, raising production costs and prices of staple foods, thereby exacerbating food insecurity. Therefore, improving fertilizer use efficiency and adopting alternative fertilization sources, combined with conservation practices, represent key strategies to mitigate food insecurity. Among these strategies, reducing import dependence through improved fertilizer use efficiency emerges as the most immediately actionable priority, as it could reduce current demand by 20–30% within 5 years. This should be complemented by medium-term investments in alternative fertilizer sources and long-term climate adaptation measures. These actions can also support the promotion of sustainable development goals aligned with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda. Aligning fertilizer strategies with climate-smart and low-carbon agriculture policies could simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance the resilience of food systems.

The variability of the soil chemical attributes in an area where woody crops are integrated with forage is quite complex, so it is important to understand the distribution of these soil attributes and their correlation with the forage yield. This study aimed to analyze the spatial variability of the production and bromatological composition of Brachiaria and Panicum forage species according to the soil chemical attributes when cultivated in a silvopastoral system integrated with eucalyptus to optimize the forage yield and nutritional quality of the forage in this multiple-use system. The study was conducted in the municipality of Ribas do Rio Pardo (MS) in the 2011/2012 crop season, where linear and spatial correlations were analyzed between attributes of eucalyptus, forage plants, and the chemical attributes of a Neossolo Quartzarênico (pH, organic matter (OM) and organic carbon (OC) contents, and carbon stock (CS)) at two soil layers: 0.00-0.10 and 0.10-0.20 m. A geostatistical grid with 72 sample points was used. Spatially, eucalyptus height can be estimated by cokriging with OM, and cellulose by cokriging with pH. OM contents above 6 g cm-3 indicated sites with the highest eucalyptus heights. On the other hand, pH values below 4.3 indicated sites with the highest cellulose content for the forage plants. Using geostatistics is technically feasible for creating specific management zones in the eucalyptus forage silvopastoral system.

A cultura do milho durante seu ciclo vegetativo e produtivo requer condições especificas para garantir o seu desenvolvimento e seu potencial de produção, como a radiação solar, a temperatura, a disponibilidade hídrica, os micronutrientes e macronutrientes. No entanto, o plantio de milho nas áreas adjacentes aos quebra-vento, como é o caso do gênero Eucalyptus, corrobora para que haja uma competição entre as culturas, podendo afetar de forma significativa o desenvolvimento da cultivar em algumas distâncias. Assim, esse trabalho teve como objetivo identificar qual a influência do quebra-vento do gênero Eucalyptus na cultura de milho, por meio de coletas em campo em conjunto com dados oriundos de um sensor na faixa do visível embarcado em um drone. Por meio do estudo foi possível constatar que os quebra-ventos exercem influência no desenvolvimento do milho, resultando em diferentes níveis de crescimento entre os diferentes grupos analisados. Sendo o grupo mais próximo do quebra-vento o mais afetado, apresentando baixa biomassa e nanismo, por outro lado, o grupo mais distante sofre menos influência, com resultados de desenvolvimento. Por fim, o uso de um drone de baixo custo somado ao levantamento de campo, permitiu identificar quais as áreas mais afetadas pelos quebra-ventos, e posteriormente, discriminá-las estatisticamente.

This study aimed to evaluate the linear and spatial correlations of soil physical attributes in a soybean field under a no-tillage system in the 0.00-0.20 m and 0.20-0.40 m layers in Selvíria, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Soil sampling was carried out at 60 georeferenced points arranged in a 5 × 5 m experimental grid, considering soil texture (sand, clay, silt), porosity variables (Ma, Mi, dTP and cTP), density attributes (SD and PD), penetration resistance (PRi and PRb), gravimetric moisture (GM), and total soil deoxyribonucleic acid (DNAt). Data were analyzed using statistical and geostatistical techniques, with experimental semivariogram fitting and kriging interpolation. The surface layer showed greater variability and 23 significant linear correlations, including strong to very strong magnitudes between attributes, in contrast to the subsurface layer. DNAt was positively correlated with silt and negatively correlated with clay, indicating a physical-biological integration between soil structure and microbial activity. Most dynamic attributes exhibited a pure nugget effect, suggesting structural homogenization typical of consolidated and irrigated Oxisols under long-term no-tillage system, with variability restricted to the microscale. These results indicate that site-specific management should be targeted only to attributes with proven spatial dependence (silt, clay, and PR), whereas the remaining properties can be managed uniformly due to their intrinsic stability within the system.