Producers from the so-called Matopiba region, an anagram composed of the acronyms of the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia, are expected to make up the majority of the approximately 70 thousand visitors expected for the Bahia Farm Show 2022, which starts this coming May 31st and continues until the 4th. June, in the Bahian municipality of Luís Eduardo Magalhães. The region, considered one of the most promising agricultural frontiers in Brazil, has irrigation technologies as the main driver of its strong agricultural development in recent years. To give you an idea, according to data from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), between 1985 and 2015, in Matopiba the number of central pivots installed jumped from 13 to 1.548.
Still according to data from Embrapa, the municipalities with the highest density and relative area occupied by central pivots have been Barreiras/BA, Luís Eduardo Magalhães/BA, São Félix do Coribe/BA and São Desidério/BA. In the States of Tocantins, Piauí and Maranhão, the municipalities with the largest relative area occupied by pivots are, respectively, Pedro Afonso/TO, Guadalupe/PI and Riachão/MA.
It is with an eye on this enormous potential that Pivot Máquinas Agrícolas e Sistemas de Irrigação is among the more than 360 companies exhibiting at the Bahia Farm Show. “This is the second edition in which we participate. The first was in 2019, the year in which we arrived in Bahia, with our store in Luís Eduardo Magalhães. Our expectations for the event are the best possible. Especially because last year was our sales record and for 2022 we hope to at least equal the numbers we had last year, which was truly spectacular”, says João Morais, commercial manager at Pivot in the western Bahia region.
The Bahia Farm Show is one of the country's most popular agricultural fairs among agribusiness players, not only because it is in one of the most productive regions in Brazil, but because it receives a very wide audience, as Morais explains. “In addition to receiving producers from western Bahia, it also serves the public in the Matopiba region, especially producers from Tocantins. There are also many producers coming from the central region of Bahia, on the other side of the São Francisco River. Also, because they are states that border Bahia, the fair receives a large number of visitors from cities in Minas and Goiás, especially from the north-west of Minas Gerais, and the east of Goiás”, explains Pivot's commercial manager.
For the Bahia Farm Show, considered the largest agricultural fair in the North Northeast of Brazil, Pivot promises to bring innovation, as explained by João Morais. “We will assemble complete central pivot equipment at the fair, as we did recently at AgroBrasília. We are going to irrigate this system that we will set up there. It will be an unprecedented action at the Farm Show. The equipment we will use for this demonstration is one of the most modern we have. This is Lindsay model 9.500 equipment, the most robust we have”, details the Pivot manager.
According to João Morais, the idea is to show visitors in practice the technological solutions added to Lindsay's irrigation systems, a manufacturer represented by Pivot in West Bahia. “This equipment that we will assemble has FieldNET, which is a modern monitoring and control system for irrigation activities. With this technology, you can have control of everything in the palm of your hands, managing the entire irrigated area remotely, via your cell phone. Additionally, FieldNET Advisor offers daily recommendations to help meet the property’s current needs,” explains João Morais.
The Matopiba region is home to 14 of the 100 richest municipalities in Brazilian agribusiness, according to a survey by the Ministry of Agriculture and IBGE, with emphasis on the cities of São Desidério (BA), the second richest; and Formosa do Rio Preto (BA), in fifth place. Officialized in 2015, the region brings together 337 municipalities, 31 micro-regions and represents a total of around 73,1 million hectares (51% of the area of the four states).
According to estimates from the National Supply Company (Conab), in Matopiba, the total planted area of grains and fibers, driven by soybeans, corn and cotton, will reach 8,4 million hectares in this 2021/2022 cycle, 2,60% more than the previous one. Production is expected to increase 3,80% in comparison, reaching 28.2 million tons.
The crop that stands out among the main producing regions of Matopiba is soybeans. The place is already responsible for almost 12% of national grain production, according to data from the National Supply Company (Conab). But other crops such as rice, corn and cotton also play an important role.
Currently, Matopiba accounts for approximately 10% of Brazilian grain and fiber production, mainly soybeans, corn and cotton. The study “Brazil – agribusiness projections – 2019/2020 to 2029/2030”, prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture, points out that, in ten years, this agricultural frontier will produce around 32,7 million tons of grains in 2029/30, in a planted area of 8,9 million hectares. Among the factors that have attracted investors to the region are the still relatively lower land prices, in relation to areas in the Center-South of the country, as well as the flat topography, good light and the arrival of technologies that make planting viable. of grains.
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Of Argentine origin and global operations, Auravant has a physical presence in Brazil with a tool that enhances agronomic knowledge and digitizes the relationship between companies
The company will provide a specialized team at the event to present possibilities for installing drip systems across the entire area of the farms or in harmony with other irrigation systems
