agriculture in brazil in the 21st century

M E T A L I V R O SSão Paulo, 2013

AGRICULTURE IN BRAZIL

IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Research and Text

EVARISTO EDUARDO DE MIRANDA

Photograph

Pulsar Imagens

Presentation

Roberto Rodrigues

EDITORIAL CREDITS

© 2013 Metavídeo SP Produção e

Comunicação Ltda. (Metalivros)

All rights reserved

Editorial and Graphic Direction

Ronaldo Graça Couto

Research and Text

Evaristo Eduardo de Miranda

Photograph

Pulsar Imagens

Editorial and Graphic Management

Bianka Tomie Ortega

Design

Dora Levy | Cj.31

Layout

João Heleno and Douglas Watanabe | Cj.31

Proofreading

Across The Universe Communications

English Version

Dorothy Sue Dunn Araújo

Administrative Secretariat

Roberta Vieira

Distribution and Sales

Celina Marques

Scannig, Proofs and Digital Archive

Bureau São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Printing and Binding

Ipsis Gráfi ca, São Paulo, Brazil

Sponsorship

PRESENTATION, 15

AGRICULTURAL DIVERSITY IN BRAZIL

IN THE THIRD MILLENIUM, 19

AUTHOR’S NOTE, 23

THE AGRICULTURES OF BRAZIL, 29

Small farmers and large producers, 30

Dynamism of agriculture, 36

Biodiversity and production, 40

Concentration of production, 42

Income and technology, 47

Sustainability and innovation, 51

Forest preservation, 53

Agricultural and environmental power, 58

FOOD, 63

Grain, 63

Sugar, 92

Tubers, 98

Vegetables, 108

Fruits, 120

Oranges and citrus fruits, 136

Brazil nuts, almonds, peanuts and walnuts, 140

Palms, palm hearts, fruits and oils, 146

Meat, milk, eggs and honey, 153

Aquiculture, 180

AGROENERGY, 184

Sugarcane, 185

Biodiesel, 197

Energy forests, 203

Agricultual residues, 209

Agriculture and energy for the 21st century, 213

FIBERS, 214

Forest cellulose fi ber, 216

Cotton, 217

Palm trees, 219

Sisal, 224

Jute and aramina, 226

Wicker work, 227

Ramie, 228

Golden grass, 229

Wool, 229

Silk, 231

The fi ber of agriculture, 232

SPECIAL PRODUCTS, 235

Medicinal, aromatic and

spice plants, 236

Flowers, 242

High-quality grapes and wine, 247

Cachaça, 250

Timber, 254

Tobacco, 258

Rubber, 260

Organic products, 262

Nontransgenic products, 265

Stimulant plants, 266

LIST OF CULTIVATED OR EXPLOITED

PLANT SPECIES CITED IN THIS BOOK, 278

REFERENCES, 284

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, 292

AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY, 295

PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS, 295

SUMMARY

15

FOR A LONG TIME, PEOPLE HAVE SAID: a strategy is lacking to transform the grasslands of

Brazil, once and for all, into the productive potential that is expected worldwide. Public policies

that favor agriculture take place sporadically, in spurts, and are not always conjoined. And gov-

ernment measures often inhibit orderly rural development.

On the other hand, it is often said that the absence of a solidly based project for the sector is due

to the fact that most of the population in Brazil – today, living in urban settings – is not aware of

the huge contribution of agriculture and of agrobusiness in the country.

And there are a number of reasons for this. As an example, we cite numbers for grain production, a

major integrated effort by scientists, extension workers and rural producers that is admired all over

the world. In the last 20 years, the area planted to grain increased 37% in Brazil, while production

rose 173%. There is magic in these numbers: if productivity per hectare in Brazil today were the

same as 20 years ago, the area necessary to reach today’s yields would be an additional 53 million

hectares, above and beyond the 51 million hectares planted to grain today. In other words, 53 mil-

lion hectares have been preserved. This is a fact, not a promise nor a commitment: it is done. And

the name for this is sustainability, a topic discussed every day in events all over the world.

Beef production, usually pasture-fed, and that of other meats (pork, chicken) based on the same

grains is also sustainable. And agroenergy in Brazil is sustainable, based on ethanol (that pro-

duces only 11% of the CO2 emitted by gasoline), biodiesel, bioelectricity. Not to mention the alco-

hol/chemical industry that will arrive in the near future. Plus 7 million hectares of planted forests

that are also sustainable.

What can be said of our green belts, with their remarkable horticultural activities? Of our fi bers

that are equally competitive?

Very few people are aware of the fact that Brazilian agrobusiness is responsible for 23% of the

country’s PIB, generates 37% of its jobs and has a commercial surplus much greater than the

total surplus of Brazil, which guarantees exchange reserves and allows the importation of con-

sumer items that are in such great demand by our people.

It may very well be true, this absence of public policies, because most of the population do not

recognize the importance of the progressive rural areas and their agents – the rural producers –

and therefore do not put pressure on the government to support them.

In fact, there has been some effort to change this, always aiming to expose these values to urban

society. But the results have not been suitable. Perhaps due to inadequate communication that

may be somewhat domineering, like “see how important I am”. Perhaps due to excessive humil-

ity on the part of leadership.

Or perhaps due to a lack of clarity as to the closely linked relationship between rural and urban

areas, of the visceral interdependence of rural and urban settings, of the historical background

of this huge country based on the dedication of workers from both areas.

PRESENTATION

16

So this clarity has now come to our attention in this book written by researcher Evaristo de Mi-

randa and illustrated by photographer Delfi m Martins and others as well as satellite images.

Fruit of years of research and countless visits to many different rural settings, Agriculture in Bra-

zil in the 21st Century paints an up-to-date picture of this huge hinterland where men and women

of various ethnic origins, with different cultures and distinct edaphic/climatic, technological and

land-based backgrounds, come together in a marvelous and successful assemblage of a huge

jigsaw puzzle: our farmland.

These nameless farmers of all ages struggle day after day, year after year. Their daily toil in con-

stant communion with nature links them to their brothers in the city, whether large or small, who

also work ceaselessly in the construction of our great nation.

In natural, articulate prose, Evaristo reveals where we are in the rural areas, and what we did to

get there.

In closing, this is a book to be read and, as the author remarks, “visited” by every Brazilian, wher-

ever he or she may live or work. When going over these pages, we will most certainly feel proud of

being Brazilian and enjoy being part of a remarkable people who, through persistence and deter-

mination, developed the most important sustainable tropical agriculture on the planet. This work

will guide public opinion towards a strategy to help Brazil generate greater well-being for its

people and for the rest of the world, based on the competitive production of fantastic rural Brazil.

Roberto Rodrigues

Agronomist and rural producer

Former Agriculture Minister of Brazil

Special FAO Ambassador for the

International Year of Cooperativism

19

AGRICULTURE IN BRAZIL IN THE 21ST CENTURY had its beginnings ten years ago, when we

invited Evaristo Eduardo de Miranda to write a book that would be called Agrocultura Brasileira,

with photographs by Delfi m Martins. Both were already old acquaintances from the Brazilian

agriculture sector: the fi rst as a researcher at EMBRAPA and the second as a photographer spe-

cializing in this sector. This project would have an historical bias concerning the evolution of six of

the main agricultural crops in Brazil. It never came to be, but the two authors kept on research-

ing and photographing nonstop, the primary sector of the Brazilian economy.

In these 10 years agricultural activity continued developing, widened its horizons, and this made

us turn our attention towards this sector one more time. We changed the scope of the original

project and planned an illustrated publication on Brazilian agriculture that would offer a compre-

hensive perspective, focusing on contemporary production since the turn of the new century. So

the proposal of the present work was born, aiming to give the reader an up-to-date publication

with state-of-the-art images and an innovative approach to this vast universe.

Bayer’s reaction upon receiving our request for support was immediate and energetic. This guar-

antee of support gave us the intellectual and creative freedom necessary to develop this work,

in the form that is now presented to the public. It is a singular creation, free of economic or

ideological dirigisme. It attempts to refl ect, correctly and in an attractive context, the increasing

importance of our agriculture, as much for Brazilians as for most of the world, that consumes

our products, every day becoming more technological and scientifi c.

With data and information at least up to 2010, this book shows how and why Brazilian agriculture

has today become the most solid sector of the economy, with sustainable growth indices, expanding

application of scientifi c research and development of Brazilian technology involving enormous social

and economic diversity of its millions of agents spread across Brazil, with its very special culture.

Contemporary Brazilian agriculture is no longer an activity with low aggregate value, and has

begun generating a growing variety of products even more sophisticated. It involves the arduous

work of a huge anonymous army of small rural producers, and another army of average farmers

and great entrepreneurs. Together they sustain industry and services in an ever more forceful

and complex manner.

This work offers the reader a broad view of a segment that is no longer restricted to producing

food for the Brazilian people and to exporting commodities in natura. It provides its own energy

as well as that for other areas of the economy. It produces fi bers for artistic and industrial use on

an upward scale, besides special products of great international value.

This book combines two views that are complementary in a well orchestrated manner: one by

Miranda, analytical-systemic, and the other, a visual picture put together by Delfi m Martins of

Pulsar Imagens, complemented by recent satellite images.

AGRICULTURAL DIVERSITY IN BRAZIL

IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM

20

Miranda researched, put together and cross-referenced thousands of pieces of data available in

public and private agencies all over Brazil. He depended on the generous contributions of dozens

of specialists and agricultural and scientifi c institutions and associations. So the result of this

work did not depend solely on the authors and publishers, but also on all of the collaborators that

participated in this publishing effort that is original for Brazil.

For this edition, Pulsar placed at our disposal its vast, magnifi cent and beautiful photographic

collection on the subject, limited to that produced in the fi rst twelve years of the 21st century,

mainly involving, and not by chance, the name of photographer Delfi m Martins, our constant col-

laborator who had also been involved in publishing plans ever since the fi rst, more limited project

dreamed up originally many years ago. Here we select and reproduce over 200 among thousands

of images examined, involving 35 professional photographers.

We stress the complex content that was so generously ceded to this initiative by EMBRAPA Gestão

Territorial and by Space Imaging Brasil, besides orientation for the selection of the 40 satellite

images printed here, composing a contemporary view from space of Brazilian agriculture that

the author’s photographs could never achieve.

Dora Levy, chosen to lead the design of this edition, transformed it into a true work of art, visually

striking and easy to read.

Finally, we highly praise the presentation of Roberto Rodrigues, Special Ambassador to FAO

(United Nations) for the International Year of Cooperativism. His endorsement of the work fi lls us

with pride and the certainty that we have reached our goal: to give the public a work capable of

presenting a global perspective, both contemporary and original, on the most fundamental Bra-

zilian economic activity. Everything that has to do with the subject did not fi nd its way here, but

we did paint a picture of a strong, innovative agricultural country, diversifi ed and modern, made

by people that should be very proud of themselves and the fi nal result of their work.

Ronaldo Graça Couto

Metalivros

23

THE PEOPLE OF URBAN AREAS SEE BRAZILIAN agriculture as something far removed from

the cities. In geographic terms, it is part of the Brazilian hinterland, in rural areas, far from the

cities. This classic view must be forgotten. The differences between cities and rural areas have

diminished greatly. Modern Brazilians live in the country. Farmers live in the city and work in the

country. The rural area is industrialized. Small producers, linked to information networks, use

state-of-the-art technology to reach professional levels.

This book shows these connections; they are closely linked and permanent. Agriculture is pre-

sent in the daily life of cities, from the tires of automobiles that run on ethanol to the paper of

books and printers, and include clothes, medicine, cosmetics and food. Good, varied and cheap.

To reveal the totality of Brazilian agriculture would require an encyclopedia. To present it in a sin-

gle book implies selection, summarization and synthesis of information. We gave preference to

global instead of total. Content was built upon a technical basis, but whenever possible, scientifi c

terminology was not used and essential, unprecedented aspects were dealt with in many topics,

in order to offer a global view of Brazilian agriculture.

This work is geared primarily to the general public, unfamiliar with the rural scene and the dy-

namics of today. When it was not possible to avoid presenting concepts and processes, indispen-

sable explanations were added.

To understand Brazilian agriculture, it is not enough to show record production numbers that are

always on the rise. To foster ideas such as “the world’s largest exporter” of this or that, in the

long run, conceals the evolution of production, the impacts and sustainability. It is more impor-

tant to understand how production is carried out in Brazil than to know how much is produced.

It is necessary to comprehend the enormous evolution of agricultural technology in the country,

thanks to innovation and entrepreneurism of agriculturists and their organizations. And also, to

know how all of this fi ts into historical processes and the cultural roots of Brazil.

Two government ministries deal with agriculture in Brazil. The Ministry of Agrarian Development

focuses on family agriculture in extractivist communities that have limited access to the land.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply deals with farm issues as well as basic produc-

tion chains of supply and exportation. The boundaries between the two ministries are not all that

rigid. There is positive synergy between the two. This political and institutional solution is very

interesting. It rarely occurs in other countries.

For an up-to-date perspective on Brazilian agriculture, an appeal was made to both ministries

as well as multiple sources of primary information. The main sources were census records from

the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografi a e Estatística (IBGE). Many producer associations, research

and development institutions, and specialists gave suggestions and provided valuable data from

several areas of agricultural activity. All are listed in the acknowledgments.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

24

In this work, the year 2010 was established as a reference. Sometimes data from 2011 or 2012 was used.

In other cases, the data extend only to 2008 or 2009. Using various sources of available institu-

tional data, we attempted to present the most reliable and up-to-date information. For clarity,

numbers were always rounded off. They often express averages (triennial) and orders of mag-

nitude, given the inter-annual fl uctuation of agricultural production. Given the impossibility of

being accurate as to agricultural magnitude, we used approximation whenever possible.

Different institutions use different methods, time-periods and techniques to measure the same phe-

nomenon. The Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (CONAB), for example, uses the agricultural

year for evaluating production, while IBGE and FAO work with the calendar year. An attempt was

made to provide compatible information by using technical considerations of the methods used.

Some cultivated plants provide food, energy and fi bers and can be classifi ed as special products.

Sugarcane, for example, is included in four categories: it provides food (sugar), energy (ethanol),

fi bers (bagasse) and is the basis for a special product (cachaça). So in this book, a crop may be

presented by only one of its dominant characteristics or it may be mentioned more than once,

under different headings, when pertinent. At the end of the book, a list of over 480 cultivated or

exploited plant species is given, with scientifi c names and synonyms. The list does not include

ornamental plants nor most medicinal and forest species.

25

The importance of Brazilian agriculture is not only in the production of food, energy, fi bers and vari-

ous special products, high in quality, competitive, and at lower prices. Besides generating foreign

exchange credits and maintaining Brazil’s balance of payment in equilibrium, it is the birthplace

of true cultural treasures, trademarks of the profound identity of the Brazilian people. Cooking,

handicrafts, musical styles and traditions, religious festivals, pilgrimages, tourism, food habits,

rural festivals and county fairs are among the fruits of rural labor cited throughout the book.

While this text is being read, men and women are in the fi elds, dealing with the land, taking care

of the environment, livestock, greenhouses, machine maintenance, accounts, birthing mares,

protecting the hay from the rain, helping a neighbor or playing country music with a friend or two

beside a wood stove, having a shot of cachaça or some delicious coffee.

Do not read this book. Visit it. As one would visit a friend’s farm, the family ranch, a grandfather’s man-

sion. Go ahead. As one who goes on foot or on horseback. Do not be afraid of the numbers and mul-

titude of themes. At the front gate there is a message of welcome. Keep calm. The entrance arch has

a wooden plaque engraved with the name of this piece of land, worked on and blessed, called Brazil.

Evaristo Eduardo de Miranda

Researcher, EMBRAPA

28

A G R I C U LT U R E I N B R A Z I L I N T H E T W E N T Y - F I R S T C E N T U R Y

29


THE WORLD´S POPULATION HAS NEVER BEEN SO large, nor have the people lived so long. Never

has so much food been produced, or consumed. The population, longevity, income and food con-

sumption grow and the challenge is to feed an additional two billion people or more in next the 40

years. To take care of this demand for food, the world is counting on current and future production

of Brazilian agriculture. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) together with

several other worldwide forums proclaim this expectation, rather like an ultimatum. Europe and

China are already increasing their dependence on Brazil’s agricultural production.

Today, Brazil’s entire food production of plant and animal origin is enough to take care of not only

the basic necessity of feeding Brazilians, but of feeding one billion people. This is not a trifl e. But it

is not enough when faced with the challenge of worldwide demand. The leadership of Brazilian ag-

riculture will not only be the result of high production but also of profi tability and competitiveness.

It is not enough to merely produce. It is necessary to be competitive in price and quality. And this

competitiveness will be the result of more effi cient, sustainable and diversifi ed production systems.

Brazilian agriculture is pluralistic. It is made up of many “agricultures”, differentiated by histori-

cal processes, geographic location, production systems, socio-economic and agrarian circum-

stances, and by the origins and traditions of the rural producers.

The main source of global information on agriculture are the Censos Agropecuários (Farm Cen-

sus) carried out by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografi a e Estatística (IBGE). The methods and

results of this Census are in accord with the recommendations and basic concepts sanctioned by

FAO. This permits an international comparison of these statistics. The IBGE Census measures

the extent of and characterizes Brazilian agriculture.

The magnitude of agriculture. The 2006 Farm Census identifi ed 5,175,489 farms in Brazil. The total

area for farming, equal to the sum of the areas of all properties, is not expanding. It is diminishing.

In 1985, it was around 375 million hectares. In 1995, the area shrank to 354 million hectares and

in 2006 to 330 million hectares. Agriculture is not eating up new natural areas as many may think.

Occasional expansions were more than compensated for by retractions in other regions.

According to IBGE, the main reason for this retraction in total area occupied by agriculture was

the creation of conservation units (federal and state) and demarcation of native lands. From 1996

to 2006 alone, the creation of protected areas covered around 61 million hectares and the reduc-

tion of agricultural areas, 23.7 million hectares. The retraction of agriculture has been approxi-

mately two million hectares annually in the last 20 years.

This occupied area should not be confused with cultivated area that is much smaller, around 109

million hectares. Farmers work only part of their property for a number of reasons: some sections

are not usable, others require investment and resources that are not available. Some areas with

natural vegetation, such as campos nativos, caatingas and cerrados are used for pastureland. And

are not deforested. Other areas with natural vegetation are preserved based on environmental leg-

islation, especially in the North and Central-West regions, or kept as a reserve for future expansion.

THE AGRICULTURES OF BRAZIL

pp. 26-27 Contours in a

rice fi eld, Mata, Rio Grande

do Sul, 2008

p. 28 Small farms with

diversifi ed annual crops,

Anita Garibaldi, Santa

Catarina, 10/Apr/2010

(Satellite GeoEye-1, Latitude

-27°70’, Longitude -50°94’)

30


SMALL FARMERS AND

LARGE PRODUCERS

THE AVERAGE SIZE OF THE BRAZILIAN FARM shrank in one decade from 73 hectares in 1995

to 64 hectares in 2006. But the GINI index, used to measure concentration of land distribution,

was still 0.872 in 2006. This fi gure indicates a large amount of land concentrated in the hands of

a few farmers.

It is not the number of hectares, whether 20 or 50, that defi ne a small farm in Brazil. Classifi -

cation of the size of a rural property varies depending on the region. It is necessary to take into

account various factors, such as soil and climate. In temperate or subtropical regions of the

country, the land is more productive. In the semiarid region and on many soils in the Amazon, the

land is less productive. To manage this diversity of conditions, agricultural and agrarian politics

in Brazil use the concept of Fiscal Module for each municipality.

The Fiscal Module (FM) is the minimum area of a rural property that makes it economically vi-

able. This unit, expressed in hectares, is established by the Instituto Nacional de Colonização e

Reforma Agrária (INCRA) of the Ministério do Desenvolvimento Agrário (MDA) for each munici-

pality. It provides a parameter for the classifi cation of the farm, according to its dimensions.

A small farm is one with an area of 1 to 4 FMs; a medium-sized farm has an area of 4 and 15

FMs. Above this value are the big farms. Depending on the location and characteristics of the

municipality, an FM may vary from 5 to 110 hectares.

According to data from EMBRAPA Gestão Territorial, based on data from INCRA and IBGE, there

are 4.6 million small landholdings, that is, 88% of the farms in Brazil. They occupy 95 million

hectares (29% of the agricultural area). And produce 50.3% of the domestic production value,

around R$ 73 billion, according to the 2006 Farm Census. Medium-sized properties (233,000) are

5% of the total and occupy 20% of the land (67 million hectares). Large farms make up around 7%

of the total (348,000) and occupy 51% of the land (168 million hectares).

Furthermore, according to IBGE, 39% of those responsible for the farms were illiterate or knew

how to read and write without ever having been to school, and 43% did not fi nish primary school.

The greatest amount of illiteracy is in the North and Northeast regions. Women are responsible

for about 13% of the farms. One of the strong points of small farms and farm hands are the as-

sociations, unions and cooperatives.

Cooperatives. According to data from the Organização das Cooperativas do Brasil (OCB), in 2010,

there were 1,523 farming cooperatives that brought together 970,000 members of which 776,000

were small farmers, over 17% of the total. And they directly employed 156,000 people. Almost

80% of the members are small landowners. All of the cooperatives in Brazil bring together 10

million members, a number that should reach 23 million in 2030.

In 2011, the farming cooperatives in Brazil exported altogether over US$ 6.1 billion to 96 coun-

tries, the main ones being the United States and China (each country receiving 12% of total

exports), the Arab Emirates (9%), Germany (7%) and the Netherlands (5%). The Human Develop-

ment Index (HDI) in Brazil is higher in municipalities with cooperatives.

The main products exported by cooperatives in 2011 were sugar and ethanol. Small and medium

producers supply sugarcane for the sugar-alcohol complex. Sugar and ethanol from the coop-

eratives represented 37% of total domestic exports of these products, a sum of US$ 2.2 billion.

31


In second place, soybeans from the cooperatives contributed US$ 1.3 billion, 21% of the total

amount exported. Small farmers contribute considerably to soybean exports, especially in the

South. The cooperatives exported US$ 893 million in coffee, 14% of the exports of this product,

another segment where the participation of small farmers is signifi cant. Then comes the meat of

domestic fowls, US$ 570 million, 9% of the total amount exported.

The state of São Paulo assumed the leadership in exports of farming cooperatives in 2011, for a

total of US$ 2.1 billion (33.7%). Paraná was in second place, with US$ 1.9 billion (31.3%). In third

was Minas Gerais with US$ 886 million (14.3%), followed by Rio Grande do Sul with US$ 364 mil-

lion (6%) and Santa Catarina with US$ 313 million (5.1%).

Unionism. The Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores na Agricultura (CONTAG) has been

in existence for 50 years. It is another manifestation of the organization and defense of farm

families, those of agrarian reform, salaried rural workers, share-croppers, “comodatários”, ex-

tractivists, “quilombolas”, traditional fi shermen and river people. Currently, 27 rural-workers’

federations (FETAGs) in the states and over 4,000 workers’ unions constitute CONTAG. The Movi-

mento Sindical de Trabalhadores e Trabalhadoras Rurais union fi ghts for the rights of over 15.7

million male and female fi eld-hands and forest workers.

The Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil (CNA) is the entity that represents the

employers’ union in Brazil’s rural sector. Rural employer unionism is not linked to the govern-

ment and represents the concerns of farmers to society and the government. In the states and

municipalities, representation is the responsibility of the rural federations and farmers’ unions.

CNA presides over the Conselho Superior de Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil (Rural Brasil),

made up of the Organização das Cooperativas Brasileira (OCB), Sociedade Rural Brasileira (SRB)

p. 31 Treze Tílias, Santa

Catarina, 2012

p. 32 Landless settlers,

Guarapuava, Paraná, 2012

32


and other national sectorial associations. This entity also coordinates the Fórum Permanente de

Negociações Agrícolas Internacionais, made up of OCB and Associação Brasileira do Agronegó-

cio (ABAG). CNA works to bring together these organizations as the Federação das Associações

dos Plantadores de Cana do Brasil (FEPLANA), Conselho Nacional de Pecuária de Corte (CNPC)

and Sociedade Nacional da Agricultura (SNA).

Production Infrastruture. Rural infrastructure still lacks many things in Brazil. As ABAG has point-

ed out, timid investment in transportation in the past few decades has been insuffi cient to supply

the necessary support for agrobusiness, mainly in the interior of Brazil. Only 5% of the grain har-

vest is transported by water routes, while 67% is over roads. Roads account for around 70% of the

total transported in the country, in contrast to other countries, such as the United States (26%) and

China (8%). In seaports, there are two critical issues: access to terminals and high operating costs.

Effi cient logistics are imperative for rapid, sustainable development. The government intends to

invest R$ 133 billion in the next few years in reform and construction of highways and railroads.

In 2006, 32% of farmlands did not have access to electricity, but rural electrifi cation is still ex-

panding. Only 6.3% of farms were irrigated. Total irrigated area was 4.5 million hectares. Only

10% of the farms had at least one tractor. The use of motorized mechanical energy was observed

on over 30% of the farms, thanks to the ample market of contracted and rented farm machinery

in Brazil. Even so, animal- or man-power is used on 70% of the farms. There is a huge potential

to expand mechanization on small farms, with industrial production of appropriate tools as certi-

fi ed by the Associação Brasileira da Indústria de Máquinas e Equipamentos (ABIMAQ).

33


AGRICULTURE AND THE TRADE BALANCE

Source: SECEX/MDIC

US

$ B

illi

on

20

00

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

12

100

80

60

- 60

40

-40

20

-20

0

Other Sectors

Agrobusiness

Brazil’s Trade Balance

Growth. Brazilian agriculture keeps on growing, contrary to other sectors of the economy. In

2011, farming was the sector that expanded most in Brazil (3.9%), compared to 1.6% for industry

and 2.7% for services. Brazil’s surplus was US$ 29.8 billion, thanks to the farming sector, with

total exports over US$ 77 billion. Farming is the main source of prosperity in widespread areas

of Brazil. And it explains the leadership of the Central-West region in domestic economic growth,

with expansion of 5.9% in 12 months from May 2011 to May 2012.

Food. In 1972, the grain harvest was 30 million tons for a planted area of 28 million hectares.

Today, the planted area is around 50 million hectares and production exceeded 166 million tons.

The cultivated area grew 80% and production more than 500%. In 40 years, grain production in

Brazil increased fi vefold, plus the production of tubers, fruits and vegetables. The country with

the largest commercial bovine herd, Brazil is a great producer of swine, poultry, eggs, milk and

milk products. It is enough food to nourish over a billion people each year.

Agroenergy. Besides food, agriculture also produces energy. Brazil has one of the cleanest en-

ergy matrices in the world, thanks to agriculture. Over 30% of the country’s energy, 68.3 million

tons of equivalent petroleum (TEP) are from agriculture. It produces solid fuel (fi rewood and

coal), liquid fuel (ethanol and biodiesel), gaseous fuel (biogas) and electricity (cogeneration of

electric energy). With technology, agriculture consumes only 4.5% of fossil energy in the energy

matrix and produces over 30% of renewable energy.

Fibers. Producer of food and agroenergy, agriculture also plays an important role in a diversifi ed

production of plant and animal fi bers. In 2010, 14 million tons of cellulose fi ber and 9.9 million

tons of paper were produced. The country became the third largest worldwide exporter of cotton.

Fibers from the shell of the coconut, from piassava palm, sisal, aramina, etc. are used today to

make furniture and vehicles, for civil construction and diverse industrial uses.

34


Special products. Besides food, agroenergy and fi bers, Brazilian agriculture, with its geographic

and economic diversity, produces an entire range of different products. Many of these have di-

verse certifi cations (organic, origin and geographic indication, etc.), such as wines, fl owers, per-

fumes, medicines, rubber, “cachaça”, timber, coffee, and others.

Brazilian agriculture still faces many challenges: lack of a true system of rural insurance; the

critical situation of infrastructure, especially as an outlet for production; requirements of worker

and environmental legislation, out of tune with rural reality; protectionism and agricultural sub-

sidies of developed countries, and diffi culty of articulation and effective defense of interests, as

well as its image, before the urban world, in Brazil and overseas.

In the immense and diversifi ed rural space of Brazil, some characteristics, diffi cult to be found

in one country, are essential to understanding Brazilian agriculture: dynamics; biodiversity; con-

centration of production and income; sustainability and innovation; environmental preservation

and cultural identity, agroculture.

p. 34 Barge loaded with

soybeans upriver from

the dam of the Bariri

Hydroelectric Plant, Rio

Tietê, São Paulo, 2010

p. 35 above Mechanized

soybean harvest, Itiquira,

Mato Grosso, 2001

p. 35 below Sacks of

coffee, 2007

35


36


DYNAMISM OF AGRICULTURE

IF SOMEBODY SAYS THAT HE UNDERSTANDS, IS up-to-date, and well informed on the subject

of Brazilian agriculture, it is because he fi nished studying it last night. Late. If he fi nished the

study last week, it would be outdated already. The reason is simple: the extremely dynamic na-

ture of agriculture.

In 40 years, as the planted area doubled, the incorporation of tropical farming technology in the

production process increased grain production more than fi ve times over. This gain in productiv-

ity, this “vertical” growth of production, and not only in horizontal breadth of areas, prevented the

deforestation of 100 million hectares of forests and cerrados.

In 30 years, Brazil no longer held the position of food importer and assumed the position of fourth

largest exporter worldwide. Grain production, in 2012, was 166 million tons: half grain (maize,

rice, wheat, barley, sorghum, etc.) and half legumes and oleaginous species (soybeans, beans,

peanuts, sunfl owers, etc). The country produces great amounts of other foods such as cassava,

potatoes, vegetables, greens and fruits (75% of the concentrated orange juice exported world-

wide). It is a huge producer of beef (30 million/slaughters/year), pork (35 million/ slaughters/

160,000,000

140,000,000

120,000,000

100,000,000

80,000,000

60,000,000

40,000,000

Area (ha)

Production (t)

20,000,000

0

19

80

19

81

19

82

19

83

19

84

19

85

19

86

19

87

19

88

19

89

19

90

19

91

19

92

19

93

19

94

19

95

19

96

19

97

19

98

19

99

20

00

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

12

180,000,000

p. 37 Silos for drying

and storing rice, Quaraí,

Rio Grande do Sul, 2010

GRAINS, LEGUMES AND OLEAGINOUS PLANTS

AREA AND PRODUCTION – BRAZIL (1980 TO 2012)

Source: CONAB

37


38


BASIC FOODS REAL PRICE EVOLUTION

year), of poultry (5.5 billion/slaughters/year), milk (31 billion liters/year) and eggs (2.5 billion

dozens/year).

In 10 years, Brazil went from one of world’s greatest importers of cotton to the third largest ex-

porter of this product and fi rst in productivity, thanks to technological innovation, biotechnology

and the incorporation of new management techniques.

The success of farming led to a decline of over 50% in the price of basic foods from 1975 to 2005.

The reduction in food prices was so great that, in the 1990s, that it changed the composition of

infl ation indices, given the reduction of food prices in the family budget.

In 2011, the Gross Internal Product (GIP) of agrobusiness grew 5.73% and totalled R$ 942 billion,

after infl ation. The Brazilian economy expanded 2.7% and reached R$ 4,143 trillion. The partici-

pation of agrobusiness in domestic GIP increased from 21.8% in 2010 to 22.7% in 2011. In two

years, growth of agricultural GIP increased 13.5%.

The agricultural trade surplus increased 574% from 1992 to 2011. It was positive from 1995 to

2000, when most commerce showed a defi cit. Total exports increased 615% during that period.

Without the positive fi gures of agriculture, the balance of the trade would have been negative. In

2012, the exportation record of agrobusiness was beaten: over US$ 100 billion.

Besides growth and temporal dynamics, there is huge diversity and spatial complexity in Brazil-

ian agriculture. It is made up of numerous rural and agrarian territories, with very different hu-

man, social, economic and historical realities.

p. 39 “Açai” market,

Mercado Ver-o-Peso,

Belém, Pará, 2008

110

100

90

80

70

60

50

Ba

sic

Fo

od

s P

rice

In

de

x

(19

75

= 1

00

)

19

80

19

81

19

75

19

82

19

76

19

83

19

77

19

84

19

78

19

85

19

79

19

86

19

87

19

88

19

89

19

90

19

91

19

92

19

93

19

94

19

95

19

96

19

97

19

98

19

99

20

00

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

ju

n 2

01

2

40

Source: DIEESE, index values by IGP-DI. Adapted from Martha Jr., 2012

39


40


BIODIVERSITY AND PRODUCTION

IN THIS BOOK, 488 PLANTS ARE CITED that are grown or exploited by farmers in Brazil. In

the letter A (in Portuguese), there are 70 plant species such as: avocado, pineapple, pumpkin,

saffl ower, “açaí”, acerola, watercress, artichoke, rosemary, lettuce, cotton, “almeirão”, plums,

almonds, mulberry, anise, anthurium, “araça”, rice, oats and others. Where did so much agricul-

tural biodiversity come from? In the beginning it was not like this.

For the discoverers of Brazil, in the Land of Santa Cruz there seemed to be no agriculture, nor cat-

tle. In his priceless letter, Pero Vaz de Caminha pointed out that the Indians “do not plant, nor do

they raise animals, there are no oxen, nor cattle, nor goats, nor sheep, nor chickens, nor any other

animal used to living with men”. To take care of the basic necessities of food, health and clothing,

the Portuguese introduced, acclimatized and tested in Brazil, everything that they missed or thought

to be of possible interest.

Europe, Asia and Africa contributed to the construction of a new Brazilian landscape, through

animal and plant species, acclimatized on the islands of the Atlantic, and introduced in Brazil

by the Portuguese. A century and a half after the discovery, in the fi elds and gardens of villages

and towns, native plants (such as cassava, yam and sweet potato) and many greens, fl owers, fruit

trees, grains, legumes, fi bers and medicinal plants, from all over the planet, grew side by side.

Success of the exotic. The reason for the success of these species introductions was of an eco-

logical nature. It was new land, sown with new species, carried to another continent without

major pests and diseases, usually as seeds. The new crops, in spite of low genetic diversity due

to the small number of individuals originally, grew better in Brazil than in their native land.

p. 40 Sunfl ower, Poço

Redondo, Sergipe, 2010

p. 41 Pampas deer in a

soybean fi eld, Mineiros,

Goiás, 2002

agriculture in brazil in the 21st century

Documents

brazil nuts

agricultures of brazil

grasslands of brazil

dynamism of agriculture

grain production

fi ber of agriculture

concentration of production

textevaristo eduardo