The Brazilian economy, with its highly developed agriculture, manufacturing and mining industries, as well as a developed services sector, is the most powerful in the Latin American region. It has a significant impact on all world markets. The country has large explored mineral reserves. It produces iron, manganese and uranium ore, there are large reserves of bauxite, coal, non-ferrous metal ores, diamonds, gold, silver, oil and other resources.
Brazil's agriculture independently provides the country with food, moreover, the country is a leading exporter of tropical crops. About 30% of the country's economically active population is employed in agricultural sectors of the Brazilian economy - this amounts to more than 20 million people. Many crops produced in Brazil have large markets abroad , while others are mainly grown for domestic consumption. In recent decades, the country has been actively developing industry related to agriculture. State support of agriculture is actively carried out, so its oldest industries respond to all modern requests from the national economy.
An example of such cooperation is the rapid expansion of sugar cane plantations on the northeast coast and in the state of São Paulo. The government program has set the task of replacing gasoline, as fuel produced from expensive imported raw materials, with ethanol. For this, sugar cane processing plants were reoriented to the production of a new type of environmentally friendly fuel. This program began to be carried out quite successfully, and for many years automobiles running on ethanol have been produced in the country.
Among export crops, Brazil's agriculture produces the most coffee. It is the world's largest coffee producer; it makes up the bulk of its exports. The main "coffee" states are São Paulo and Minas Gerais; Parana and Espirito Santo are slightly behind them. Also an important part of export is soy and animal feed prepared from it. The states of Parana and Rio Grande do Sul lead in the number of harvested soybean crops. Sugarcane is grown in Minas Gerais and São Paulo, as well as in Pernambuco and Alagoas for export production. Rice, cocoa and oranges are produced for export. The production of export crops in Brazil is greatly influenced by the geography of agriculture in the world.
For its own needs, Brazilian agriculture produces many important products, among which are cotton, beans, corn and wheat. In terms of agricultural exports, Brazil ranks third after the United States and France in the world. In terms of supplies to the world coffee market, Brazil is firmly holding the first position. Also, in connection with the weakening of Cuba's position in the supply of sugar cane, Brazil has become a world leader in this product. In the supply of cocoa and soybeans, it ranks second in the world and is in third place in the production of corn.
Brazil's agriculture also leads the world market for the collection of oranges and bananas and ranks first in the world among non-Asian countries for the supply of rice. Livestock breeding is developing at a rapid pace in Brazil, which has mainly a meat direction here. It provides at a cost of about 40% of the country's agriculture. At the end of the 20th century, Brazil had more than 150 million heads of cattle. By the size of its livestock, Brazil lags behind only India. Livestock mainly exports meat, leather, hides and wool.