The expansion of the agricultural border in Brazilian savannahs with the farming production in wide scale extends the environmental costs; however it essentially depends on the adopted technique of plantation. The study evaluates economically by Replacement Cost Method the environmental impacts of technologies of soy and corn plantation. In the case of soy the no-tillage raises the cost of production by 0,47%, but it causes a reduction of (- 81,22%) in the environmental cost. As to corn, the costs of no-tillage are (- 5,92%) lower than conventional tillage and cause a reduction in the environmental cost by (- 29,43%). In the specific region of the study the annual environmental damages caused by conventional tillage had been estimated at R$ 317,213.39 and no-tillage of R$ 81.375,76. The adoption of no-tillage in the plantation of soy and corn demonstrates its bigger social effectiveness for the reduction of the erosive process and improvement of the outflow and quality of the rivers.
Replacement cost method; environmental costs; commodities and environment
