Agricultural dynamics in Brazil continue to be characterized by two sharply contrasting forms. On one hand, low-efficiency production and natural resource extraction systems remain widely practiced along Brazil?s agricultural frontier. On the other hand, one also finds an agriculture characterized by the adoption of high-tech practices and high levels of productivity that raise Brazil?s competitiveness in international commodity markets. Such contrasts have long raised questions about the sustainability of Brazil?s agricultural production, and they have led to conflicts among some public policies promoted by various federal government agencies. This project mapped agricultural land use, between 2005-2009, in the center of Mato Grosso?s grain production zone in order to compare the dynamics of agricultural extensification vs. intensification of production. The analysis was based on the spectral profiles of vegetation index time-series data from MODIS, which allowed for identifying and mapping areas used for single and double-cropping of grains. The results show that the area of single-cropping was practically stable during the study period, while the area of double-cropping grew from being 20% of the single-cropping area in 2005 to more than 50% in 2009. These results make evident the need for the federal government to reconcile conflicting conservationist and developmentalist public policies in governing Brazilian agribusiness, for if it does not, the high and well recognized productive potential of Brazilian agriculture may be compromised
