Just like the grain crops that gained mo-
mentum in Brazil’s Center-West, after, for
years, the biggest production areas were
concentrated in the South, raising small an-
imals, like pigs, which need these inputs and
are very common in the States of the South
and Southeast regions, rearing these animals
is on a rising trend in this region. The State
of Mato Grosso, for example, registers a big-
ger evolution of the pig herd from 2014 to
2015, according to data from the Brazilian
Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE),
with the pig population soaring from 1.8 to
2.8 million head. And, according to projec-
tions, should experience a more expressive
increase over the next years.
The South region, comprising the
South and Southeast
regions concentrate
the biggest pig farms,
but the State of Mato
Grosso is making
strides in this business
Obvious to the
states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catari-
na and Paraná, concentrates the most ex-
pressive numbers of the sector. Almost
half of the pig herd (49.3%) is from this
area, where the producers in Paraná rank
first with 7.1 million animals in 2015, fol-
lowed by Santa Catarina, with 6.8 million
animals, and by Rio Grande do Sul, with
5.9 million pigs. As far as the slaughter of
animals go, the Brazilian Association of An-
imal Protein (ABPA) shows Santa Catarina
is in the leading position, with 27.4% of
the total in 2015, with Paraná coming next,
while in the previous year Rio Grande do
Sul was occupying this position.
Santa Catarina also leads exports, with
35.05% of the total in 2015, followed by Rio
Grande do Sul, with 33.11%, whilst Paraná
accounts for 12.4%. Airton Spies, assistant
secretary of Agriculture in Santa Catarina, un-
derstands that the “success in the production
and exports of pork has to do with the high
quality and the competitive costs, without
overlooking the difference in phytosanitary
excellence, as the only Brazilian State free
from Foot and Mouth disease, without vacci-
nation, acknowledged by the World Organi-
zation for Animal Health (OIE), granting ac-
cess to more discerning markets, like Japan,
the United States and, soon, South Korea”.
The State of Paraná has increased animal
slaughter in 2015 by a higher margin than
10% (in the Country it was 4.9%), accord-
ing to the Paraná State Institute of Econom-
ic and Social Development (Ipardes). The
production of protein, as well as the pro-
duction of broilers, are on the rise in the
State “driven by the replacement, in the do-
mestic market, of the consumption of beef,
more expensive, and by the consolidation
of the foreign market, besides the inclina-
tion towards the activity, combined with the
productive integration in small holdings,
the lushly available raw material for feed
and the technology applied by the indus-
try”, says Júlio Suzuki Júnior, from Ipardes.
In the Southeast, the second biggest re-
gion in this activity, Minas Gerais (equal-
ly a relevant corn producer) and São Pau-
lo are home to the biggest pig herds, with
5 million and 1.5 million animals, respec-
tively. In the sequence, they account for
11.4% and 4.75% of the number of pigs
slaughtered in Brazil in 2015. On the oth-
er hand, the Center-West, now the leading
grain producing center, has this year out-
stripped the Northeast as the third biggest
pig farming region, raising its share from
13.9% to 15.7%, thanks to the production
leap of Mato Grosso.
Sílvio Ávila
55
OS ESTADOS
The States
Fonte:
ABPA.
Maiores números em abates/2015
Estado
%
Santa Catarina
27,40
Paraná
21,47
Rio Grande do Sul
20,69
Minas Gerais
11,40
Mato Grosso
5,32
AS REGIÕES
The Regions
Fonte:
IBGE.
Maiores rebanhos suínos/2015
Região
%
Sul
49,3
Sudeste
17,3
Centro Oeste
15,7
Nordeste
14,4
Norte
3,4
