THE lavrado landscape of roraima and soybean expansion

relations between geomorphology and productive spatial processes

Abstract

The interplay between geomorphological elements and the formation of the lavrado landscape in Roraima, along with productive spatial processes, emphasizes the expansion of soybean cultivation and attempts to establish relational links between these natural and human phenomena. The formation and physiognomy of the lavrado result from long geological and climatic cycles that have shaped flattened surfaces, sandy soils, and low levels of dissection — natural conditions that favor agricultural mechanization and the extensive occupation of high-value commodity crops. The Boa Vista Depression, the main geomorphological unit of the region, presents hypsometric and lithological features that attracted pioneering production fronts, articulating with state policies and the logic of transnational capital. Thus, the lavrado landscape is understood as a product of interactions between nature and society, in which geosystems and physical landforms condition — but are also transformed by — processes of territorialization and agricultural exploitation in Roraima. The advance of soybean cultivation over the lavrado reveals a reconfiguration of geographic space based on territorial selectivity, global market dynamics, and state strategies.