Agriculture, Livestock and Deforestation
Paraguay's largest reserves of undeveloped fertile virgin forest covered land and lowest land prices are found in Alto Paraguay; thus, agriculture and cattle farming are starting to make inroads. The fertility of the Chaco's deep sedimentary soils is generally high, except in the westernmost parts, where there are very sandy soils, and some seasonal wetlands in the eastern plain. Annual rainfall is sufficient in the east (around 1200mm), fair in the center (around 900mm) and scarce in the west (around 700mm). The most challenging aspect for farmers is the lack of decent roads and infrastructure.
The advance of agriculture is inevitably at the expense of the area’s native forest. During the two decades 1990 to 2010 Paraguay had one of the highest deforestation rates worldwide. The World Land Trust estimates deforestation in the Paraguay Chaco at over 200.000 hectare for 2008 alone
The department's most important activity by far is cattle ranching, both extensive in the savannas of the east and intensive on the planted pastures of cleared land. Cultivation of sorghum, sugar cane and (in planning stage as of January 2009, for the arid west) jatropha are very recent developments.
Read more about this topic: Alto Paraguay Department