In a joint report published today, they lay out findings gleaned from 2006 to 2008 that could overturn some current assumptions about the state of global farming.

It also has a long tradition in state fairs and similar farming and horticultural competitions in the United States and Canada.

Mr Maggi says that only 8% of Mato Grosso’s territory is given over to commercial farming. Its high productivity means that the state is Brazil’s biggest producer of cotton and rice as well as soya.