Between Fenix and Ceres: The Great Acceleration and the Agricultural Frontier in the Brazilian Cerrado

Abstract This article discusses the history of the advance of the agricultural frontier in the Brazilian Cerrado and its role in the intensification of human action related to the biogeochemical cycles of the Great Acceleration. More specifically, this work discusses how soil fertility research, the motivation for internal immigration from Southern Brazil to the Cerrado and the intensification of monoculture played a central role in the rupture with traditional processes of cultivation and occupation of the fields and savannas of Central Brazil. Finally, this article discusses how these elements worked as an instrument for the consolidation of development programs not only for Brazil's savannas, but also as a model for agricultural expansion in savanna areas in the American and African continents.