Addresses the spread of soybean occupation, surveyed by satellite images in two areas in the Planalto and Chapada dos Parecis. Area I is located under the influence of highway BR-364, and Area II is within the area of BR-163. The study analyzed districts that are consolidated or in the process of expanding soybean growing, motivated by highway construction. In Area I we have the municipalities of: Brasnorte, Campos de Júlio, Sapezal and Campo Novo dos Parecis, and in Area II we have Sorriso, Lucas do Rio Verde, Nova Mutum, Vera, Nova Ubiratã, Santa Carmen and Claudia. Although soybean has contributed to economic growth by helping to improve the standard and quality of life, it has also caused severe environmental, ecological and social impact, for as the agricultural frontier advances and innovations are introduced, radical changes are caused by the hegemonic actors to the structure of the managed region. The natural vegetation becomes fragmented and simplified in the domain of a monoculture, which is grown using high technology in an attempt to obtain greater productivity for export. Also, silting and contamination of the rivers, changes in the hydrological regime, erosive processes, pressures in the Indian reserves and their surroundings, in addition to the incorporation of this economic system by the Indians, resulting in big deforestation in the reserves, as well as social inequalities and prostitution.
Socio-economical-environmental conflicts; soybean; savanna; forests; BR-163 and BR-364