Northeast of Mato Grosso: Important soy producing region

In the State of Mato Grosso, the Northeast region (Figure 1) is the second largest producer of soybeans according to the 8th estimate of the Soybean Harvest – 2020/21 from the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (IMEA).

The consolidation of the Northeast of Mato Grosso among the main regions of that State that produce soybeans is a reality, which could occur in the medium term. Indicative of this are the continuous increases in the soybean cultivated area in that region and its municipalities (Figures 2 and 3), as well as the productivity obtained in some municipalities in the Northeast of Mato Grosso (Figure 3), when compared to the Middle-North region of Mato Grosso. Mato Grosso, considered by many as the “Brazilian saddler in grain cultivation”, and which was and is developed and thought about in its logistics, for grain production.

The time for consolidation of the Northeast of Mato Grosso as an important state and national soybean producing region will obviously depend on public infrastructure, agrarian and environmental policies.

Regarding infrastructure, aspects linked to the transport and flow of inputs and production rhythmize logistics to make the primary sector viable. In the Northeast of Mato Grosso, the difficulties of transport through the road networks are numerous, and the most significant aspect are the “quags” (Figure 4) existing in the main road networks of that State, causing countless losses to the professionals who carry out the transport of grains (drivers), damaging the quality of life at work, to entrepreneurs in these segments, with their fleets damaged and fines paid for not meeting delivery deadlines, and to producers, who bear losses ranging from the continuous loss of their cargo to production flow speed, which remains in the fields waiting to be disposed of.

Regarding public agrarian and environmental policies in the Northeast of Mato Grosso, it is highlighted the need for land regulation in many of its areas, which is an obstacle to access to credit by rural producers, as well as streamlining the environmental licensing necessary for the installation of works for industries in the agricultural production chain and for the installation of the road network infrastructure itself, as well as the demarcation and approval of Indigenous Lands and many other traditional ethnicities, so that their rights to the territory are also guaranteed.

Depending on the producers operating in the Northeast region of Mato Grosso, even with so many difficulties, just a few of which are described in this material, high soybean grain yields are guaranteed. According to IBGE (2019), in 2019 the municipality of Confresa, a constituent of the Northeast region of Mato Grosso, obtained 4th place (3.900 kg ha^-1) in the average productivity of soybeans in relation to other municipalities in the State of Mato Grosso. São José do Xingu, also belonging to the aforementioned Northeast region, ranked 16th (3.600 kg ha^-1).

Here again, it is worth comparing with municipalities in the Middle-North region of Mato Grosso, the vast majority of which do not achieve such productivity. Furthermore, the potential of Confresa and São José do Xingu, municipalities mentioned above, to change the “framework” of land use and occupation is highlighted. It can be seen, in figures 5 and 6, the possibility, through existing and/or improved and/or new plant cultivation techniques, of replacing degraded pasture areas or those with low biomass production – anyone who walks there knows which is something that is frequently observed – due to soybeans, or their integration with crop areas.

Therefore, there are some indications that the Northeast of Mato Grosso will become, not so soon, but not so far away, an important soy producing region in Mato Grosso.

Raphael Maia Aveiro Cessa, Professor of Basic, Technical and Technological Education, Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Brasília - Campus Planaltina