Sustainability of Brazilian agriculture has been frequently addressed in debates about human influences on the environment. Sustainability of agricultural production is critical to meet the growing demand for food, fiber and energy, and involves economic and environmental components of agriculture. We tested the hypothesis that conservation agriculture (CA) contributes to sustainability of Brazilian soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merril) production through positive effects on one or more of the following: soil quality, grain yield and nutritional quality and growers profitability. We found that CA enhanced carbon sequestration, physical and especially biological quality of soil, which caused improved soybean grains yield, protein and flavonoids content and profit. In turn, the most expressive cropping sequence within Brazilian farmlands, the annual soybean and maize double crop (Zea mays), reduced soil physical quality with impacts on food security and agricultural sustainability. The hypothesis was proved once sustainability of Brazilian soybean production can be increased by inserting crop rotations involving cover crops in the rotation cycle.

在关于人类对环境影响的辩论中，巴西农业的可持续性经常被提及。农业生产的可持续性对于满足对食物、纤维和能源不断增长的需求至关重要，并且涉及农业的经济和环境组成部分。我们检验了以下假设：保护性农业 (CA) 通过对以下一项或多项的积极影响来促进巴西大豆 (Glycine max (L.) Merril) 生产的可持续性：土壤质量、粮食产量和营养质量以及种植者的盈利能力。我们发现 CA 增强了土壤的固碳、物理质量，尤其是生物质量，从而提高了大豆籽粒产量、蛋白质和黄酮类化合物的含量和利润。反过来，巴西农田中最具表现力的种植序列，一年一度的大豆和玉米双季作物（Zea mays）降低了土壤物理质量，影响了粮食安全和农业可持续性。一旦通过在轮作周期中插入涉及覆盖作物的轮作来增加巴西大豆生产的可持续性，该假设就得到了证明。