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O
ne out of every two kernels
of corn produced in Brazil in
the 2016/17 crop year comes
from the Center-West, com-
prised by the states of Goiás,
Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and the
Federal District. The professionalismof suc-
cessful agribusiness, the climate and the
technological breakthroughs made it pos-
sible for the Cerrado topography to devel-
op an efficient integrated system for the
production of grains and for livestock op-
erations, which changed not just the land-
scapes: they gave rise to entirely new cities
and transformed lives, conquering theWest
with a vigorous arm.
In this region, the soybean-cornduo is as
important in the agronomic, economic and
social requisites of the gigantic fields spread
across the western portion of the County as
rice and beans on the Brazilian dining ta-
bles. So as to make sure the two crops are
harvested within a timeframe of eight to
nine months, the Center-West grows super
early soybean varieties at the end of winter
and beginning of spring. In the fields, the
harvesters are followed by an army of trac-
tors and planters, seeding corn from No-
vember to February, depending on the mi-
cro-region.
This cultivation system turned out to be
so successful that in the past decades the
Cerrado region changed from a forestry ex-
ploration area, with subsistence crops and
extensive livestock operations, to the big-
Conqueringwitha
vigorous arm
The Center-West consolidates
itsstatusasBraziliangranary.Thisregionrepresents
almosthalfofthecornproducedintheCountry
If it were a country, the Center-West would be one of the 10 biggest producers
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South Pole
TheSouthisthesecondlargestcorn-producingregioninBrazil,comprisingtherelevant
animalproteinproducingstates(birds,eggsandpigs),Paraná,RioGrandedoSulandSanta
Catarina. The regionharvested27.6million tons in the in the2016/17growing season, rep-
resenting 28.7 percent of the total Brazilian crop. Paraná is the second biggest producer of
cornintheCountry,theonlyoneintheSouththatcultivatestwocrops,totaling18.3million
tonsinthe2016/17growingseason.
RioGrandedoSul andSantaCatarinahave their productionconcentratedon the sum-
mer crop. In light of their high consumption by their livestock operations and animal feed
factories, they import corn fromParaná and the Center-West. In this region, just like in the
Northeast, where not enough corn is produced, prices normally reach higher levels from
the endof one crop to the beginning of the next. The national ranking is completedby the
Southeast(13percent),wherethehighlightsareMinasGeraisandSãoPaulo;theNortheast
(6.9percent),wheretheleadingstatesareBahiaandMaranhão;andtheNorth,withnorep-
resentativeamongthe“top10”,andharvestsonly2.8percentofthecropinBrazil.
gest global phenomenon in the production
of food crops. An agricultural frontier that
makes countries like China, India and the
United States envy, where territorial agri-
business exploration has reached a limit.
For the sake of comparison, the 2016/17 na-
tional crop hit a record of 96 million tons of
corn, of which 46.685 million tons, or 48.6
percent come from the Center-West, where
any crop is bound to succeed.
Only 2.8 million tons come from the
summer crop (6% of the total produced
in the region). The other 43.9 million tons
come from the second crop (94%), volume
cultivated to aggregate the cycle of nutri-
ents in soil, equally increase the income and
the diversificationof the farms that cultivate
soybeanas the first option, becauseof the li-
quidity and prices of this crop.
Mato Grosso is the real national high-
light and locomotive of the corn crop in the
Center-West, with 26.8 million tons pro-
duced in the current season, 57.4 percent
of the regional harvest and 28 percent of all
the corn produced in Brazil in the current
season. In the regional environment, the
state is followed by Goiás, with 9.8 million
tons and 10.2 percent of the national pro-
duction, and by the fourth biggest produc-
er, MatoGrossodoSul, with9.5million tons
and 9.9 percent of the Brazilian crop. The
share of the Federal District is rather small
in light of the sea of grains produced in the
neighboring states.
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