Research reveals the vocation of northern Rio de Janeiro for planting grains

During four agricultural seasons (2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021), researchers evaluated another 50 soybean cultivars in twelve trials in the municipalities of Campos and Macaé, located in the northern region of Rio de Janeiro. The results surprised scientists and excited public authorities. “In the case of soybeans, we obtained 6,3 thousand kg/ha in the 2019/2020 harvest in the municipality of Macaé, when the national average is 3,3 thousand kg/ha”, he comments Jerri Zilli, researcher at Embrapa Agrobiology (RJ). Of the cultivars tested, ten showed good results and surpassed the national average. 

After carefully evaluating the development of cultivars, as well as the most appropriate practices and cultivation systems, the researchers' conclusion is that there are around 300 thousand hectares with potential for soybean production in the northern region of Rio de Janeiro. “In Rio de Janeiro, we can say that soy is a crop that develops well, as long as it is planted in the right way”, explains the Embrapa researcher Claudia Jantália.

The right way, according to scientists, is conservation systems, which use low-impact agricultural practices, such as direct planting. It is necessary to take into account that much of the soil in the region is impacted and degraded both from the point of view of fertility and erosion. “We understand that the direct planting system and the crop-livestock-forest integration systems (ILPF) in their different modalities are the most appropriate, especially to take advantage of the region's culture in cattle raising”, argues Zilli. 

The researchers emphasize that the potential of northern Rio de Janeiro for planting grains (soybeans and corn) goes beyond the behavior of cultivars in the field, as they also consider social, economic factors and regional infrastructure. “In parallel with the cultivar tests, we held discussions with various institutions and state bodies in order to identify opportunities to expand the grain area in Rio de Janeiro, aiming not only to benefit agriculture in the north of Rio de Janeiro, but also in other regions”, reports the researcher . 

 Extensive study

The result of these debates is a study carried out by Embrapa researchers and technicians (Embrapa Agrobiology, Embrapa Soils, Embrapa Food Agroindustry e Embrapa Soy), Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (incra), Agricultural Research Company of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Pesagro-Rio) and National Supply Company (Conab). The survey provides information on soil, climate, suitable periods for sowing, data on land use and the land tenure situation on agricultural land in the region. Much of the data obtained was gathered in this technical document.

It is known, for example, that approximately 40% of the area is distributed between small and medium-sized rural properties and represents more than six thousand establishments considering the entire northern region of Rio de Janeiro. However, the rest of the area, around 200 thousand hectares, is distributed across 373 properties with an average of 510 hectares. “It is these lands, possibly former sugarcane farms, that can be explored to plant grains more extensively”, adds researcher Claudia Jantália. 

The municipality of Campos dos Goytacazes, in the North of Rio de Janeiro, was once a major producer of sugar cane for at least three centuries. The study shows that there is an important potential area that can be explored by recovering land that, after the sugarcane cycle, became grass for cattle feed or was abandoned. “These are areas that are abandoned or being exploited by extensive livestock farming with low technology”, informs Zilli. According to the researcher, the high degree of degradation of these lands imposes urgency on the search for alternatives for producers. 

In three decades, the reduction in the area planted with sugar cane in the north of Rio de Janeiro was more than 150 thousand hectares, according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). These are lands that have not been occupied by other crops. This involves a change in land use or even eventual abandonment as unproductive areas. These areas possibly added to the millions of hectares of pastures existing in the state, most of which have a high degree of degradation.

According to the researchers, in parallel with the decline in sugarcane production areas observed since the 1990s, cattle farming grew in the region, increasing the number of animal heads by more than 60% in around 30 years. According to data from the Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company of Rio de Janeiro (Emater-RJ), the northern region of Rio de Janeiro concentrates more than 30% of the state's cattle population, including beef and dairy cattle. Probably, the expansion of livestock farming became the income option, or also the lowest cost strategy for maintaining land ownership.

Favorable scenario for grain cultivation

Despite being the second largest food consumer market and representing 9,7% of the national GDP, Rio de Janeiro is not influential in Brazilian agribusiness. Even though it has an important industrial park with the main agricultural-based agro-industries in the beverage segment, processing and product manufacturing, the input chain for agriculture, basic agricultural production, agro-industry and agro-services, the state represents less than 1% of agribusiness GDP. . “The planting of grains combined with this already existing scenario can be an opportunity for innovation and economic development based on agribusiness”, comments Jerri Zilli.

Serving the poultry and other animal production chain in Rio de Janeiro can be another attraction for producers, according to Embrapa researchers. Today, 85% of the chicken consumed in the state comes from other locations. However, the 15% that is produced on land in Rio de Janeiro requires around 30 thousand tons of soybean meal daily, which also comes from other states. “In addition to supplying poultry farming in Rio de Janeiro, soy production can be a stimulus for the establishment of new agro-industries”, analyzes Zilli.  

Although the study reveals a favorable scenario for the development of the grain chain, especially soybeans and corn, the researchers recognize that it is necessary to involve public authorities through the development of public policies that can encourage producers. “We cannot cause too much euphoria, but on the other hand, if it is not done now, the materials that were tested and indicated by the research will be lost in around three to five years”, emphasizes the researcher. 

 Production for export and above the national average 

For Fazenda Primus Ipanema Agropecuária, planting grains in the northern region of Rio de Janeiro is already a reality. Located in the municipality of Macaé (RJ), the property's main activity is beef cattle farming, but it allocates 380 hectares to planting soybeans, corn and rice. What in the beginning was something that was only aimed at feeding livestock, has now expanded and even allows the export of soybeans. The first area with commercial planting, with 47 hectares harvested in the 2020/2021 harvest, yielded 80 bags per hectare, exceeding the Brazilian average of 55 bags.

The farm's administrator, Jonas Kluppel, says that grain planting began in 2009 with beans and corn to feed cattle raised in confinement and soy began around five years ago in an unpretentious way. “At first, we planted corn to meet the company’s internal needs, we saw soybeans and thought: why not try it? And we managed to prove that planting here is just as viable as in the Midwest”, reports Kluppel excitedly. 

The enthusiasm comes from the results of those who, in addition to the high yield, managed to have the crop's grains classified as type 1, thus receiving better remuneration at the time of sale. With the good results in the field and in marketing, the Primus farm intends to increase the area planted with soybeans from 74 to 180 hectares in the 2021/2022 harvest. “We must export 60% of production, leaving only 40% for domestic consumption to feed livestock”, reveals the producer.

Although the farm is located approximately 140 kilometers from Porto do Açu, in São João da Barra (RJ), which could be a facilitator in the export of soybeans, the logistics were hampered by the lack of adequate grain logistics on site. As a result, soybean trailers leaving the farm have to travel almost 700 kilometers to the São Paulo port of Santos to be sent to their destination, which means a higher cost.

The study carried out by Embrapa researchers points out that adapting the logistics infrastructure in the state of Rio de Janeiro can reduce this cost and be attractive both for producers in the state and for producers in the regions of Minas Gerais.

Actions financed by Faperj and PronaSolos supported the proposal

Jose Carlos Polidoro, researcher at Embrapa Soils (RJ), highlights that the proposal for recovery and resumption of agricultural activity in the northern region of the state of Rio de Janeiro was built with the support of three work fronts, two of them financed by the Research Support Foundation of the State of Rio de Janeiro January (faperj). 

The first is an agronomic project, focusing on adapting soybean cultivars to the region, to provide technical support and security to rural producers regarding how and at what period of the year to cultivate soybean crops, which cultivars to use and how to combine soybean planting with corn and pasture. From the analysis of georeferenced soil maps in the state of Rio de Janeiro, terrain elevation map and soil use and cover maps, around 320 thousand hectares were identified as potential for grain crops such as soybeans and corn in the north of Rio de Janeiro. For the estimates, areas with more than 15% slope, conservation units, areas with native forest vegetation and urban areas were excluded. 

The other initiative financed by Faperj is the one that is structuring the creation of the Agribusiness Technological Innovation Hub, a proposal to install an open innovation ecosystem in Rio de Janeiro that will allow interaction and cooperation between private entrepreneurial initiatives, science institutions and technology, universities and other public institutions. 

“We can consider this the first practical action of the agribusiness hub, which brings not only the issue of grain production, but innovation throughout the chain. The fact that we recover agricultural production in the northern region will also bring investment from the grain processing industry, such as animal feed, to be able to meet the demand for poultry production, especially here in Rio de Janeiro, which currently imports all corn , soy and feed for this type of activity”, highlighted Polidoro.

The researcher also pointed out other potential benefits that soybean production in the north of Rio de Janeiro can generate for the state, taking into account the import and export corridor for agricultural products that Porto do Açu and other ports in Rio de Janeiro are implemented. “It will be a large pocket for importing fertilizers and exporting grains that come from Minas Gerais, Goiás and Mato Grosso. And you can also sell soybeans produced here in the state. We can also highlight the potential for investments in the industrial production of oil and soybean meal, with the harvest that will pass through there, and also the manufacture of fertilizers, as there are studies for the implementation of industries using these inputs in that region. With all this, the expected result for the next five years is the generation of jobs and income, with social and economic development combined with environmental sustainability”.

The third front that supported the formulation of the proposal was the National Soil Survey and Interpretation Program in Brazil (PronaSolos), led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Map). The program's mission is to expand knowledge about Brazilian soils, involving field data surveys, documentation, systematization of information and improvements in the carrying out of inventories and interpretation of Brazilian soil data. 

“In addition to showing the agricultural suitability of the land, PronaSolos helped to provide a strategic vision of the size of the area that can be cultivated and the quantity produced per hectare, in addition to the capacity to expand soybean cultivation, not only in Rio de Janeiro, but also in Espírito Santo”, added Polidoro.