In the area of Vale do Paranapanema, which consists of 16 municipalities in southern Sao Paulo, the Coopermota Cooperative estimates that the soybean acreage in their area will increase 5% this growing season due mainly to switching from sugarcane to soybeans. Even with that increase, the soybean production in the region is expected to be only 150,000 hectares, which is very small compared to the sugarcane acreage.
If sugarcane prices rebound in the future, most of these new fields of soybeans are expected to be returned to sugarcane production.