The ambition of Manuel Santos Uribelarrea is written in big black letters on the side of machines reaping the plains of South America: MSU. It is harvest time and the state-of-the-art behemoths bearing his initials have a mission to revolutionise agriculture, change the world's eating habits and make their owner very, very wealthy.

At 28, Santos is on his way to achieving those goals, making him a lord of the pampas, master of all he surveys, and one of Argentina's most eligible bachelors. His company owns more than 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) of farmland in Argentina and Uruguay, is expanding into Brazil and has plans for Ukraine.

Article continues The empire, however, is controversial - it is built on soya. Fast-expanding soya plantations are blamed for the destruction of forests across South America, posing an even graver threat than logging. The outcry has led to the tabling of a 'forestry emergency' bill in Argentina's lower house of congress. It would usher in a one-year moratorium on deforestation and oblige all 23 provinces to control and protect the region's biggest and most diverse eco-system outside Brazil.