ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the productivity of pastures replacing forest with the available technology, discusses technological achievements, and suggests an integral approach to improve sustainability of pasture-based systems with emphasis on the acid, low-fertility soil areas of the humid tropics of Latin America. Cattle ranching in Latin America has assumed a prominent role in occupation of frontier lands and has been regarded as one of the major contributors to deforestation of humid tropical areas in the region, fueled by socioeconomic and political forces operating in the different countries of the region. Reports from different countries in Latin America indicate that about 20 million hectares of humid tropical forest have been directly or indirectly converted to pasture. The dominant feature of cattle production systems replacing forests in the humid tropics of Latin America is pasture degradation, which is the main factor contributing to the low biological and economic efficiency of the production systems.
