Sílvio Ávila
60
The production of soybean seed in To-
cantins – whose capital city is Palmas – is
growing in plain sight, encouraged by the
grain cultivated in the State. From 2010
to 2016, areas devoted to grains through-
out the State soared from 643 thousand
hectares to 1.22 million hectares. The
production of grains jumped from 1.903
million tons in 2010 to 4.217 million tons
in 2015. Nonetheless, in 2016, the per-
formance dropped to 2.994 million tons.
“The reduction was caused by the pro-
longed drought that hit the State in the
past growing season, as a result of the El
Niño phenomenon”, explains Genebaldo
Queiroz, Agriculture Manager at the Sec-
retariat of Agriculture and Livestock De-
velopment (Seagro), in Tocantins.
Chained to the agricultural sector,
the seed segment began to attract pub-
lic and private investments. According
to Queiroz, all the big companies that
own varieties, as well as Embrapa and
State University of Tocantins (Unitins),
New cultivars
The producers inTocantinswill soonhave
access to the newsoybean cultivars developed
by Embrapa. Researchers of the company
are conducting trials andmultiplying the
seeds in the region, and the results have
been very promising. “The newgenerationof
cultivars is doingwell, and the trend is for it to
occupymuch space in themarket.We have
intensified the productionof seed in the region
of Formoso, whichwillmake it possible to
meet demandwithout delays”, saidLeonardo
Campos, fromEmbrapaSoybean, inLondrina
(PR), nowserving in the regionofMatopiba.
The researcher refers to the regionof
FormosodoAraguaia, in theSoutheast of
Tocantins, where there are fields devoted to
the productionof Embrapa cultivar seeds. In
all, five cultivars are cultivated: BRS7780 Ipro,
BRS8280RR, BRS8482CV, BRS8781RRand
BRS9180 Ipro. Fieldactivities are under the
supervisionof producer JoãoAlbertoRibas
Soares, amember of theCerradoFoundation,
which consists inapartnership runby
Embrapa for the development of newcultivars
and the productionof BRSseeds. Referring to
BRS9180 Ipro, RibasSoares says that “it is a
good cultivar, without any doubt “.
Worthy of
praise
Morethan50thousandhectares in
Tocantins
aredevotedtothe
productionofsoybeanseedin
thesub-irrigationsystem, resulting
intoabout150thousandtons
are engaged in research works aimed at
enhancing the quality of the seeds pro-
duced in the State. They are also pur-
suing new cultivars adapted to the eda-
phoclimatic conditions of the State and
Central-North region.
The manager explains that the produc-
tion of soybean seed in the State has been
soaring 10% a year, on average. Tocantins
enjoys the status as a relevant producer of
soy seed, with more than 50 thousand hect-
ares devoted to this crop, under a sub-irri-
gation system in the tropical meadowlands,
in the regions of Formoso do Araguaia and
Lagoa da Confusão. In this area, about 150
thousand tons of soybean seed of excellent
quality are produced. Cultivations are con-
ducted in the period of scarce rainfalls, and
the leaves receive no water, rather unfavor-
able conditions for the development of all
major pathogens of the crop.
As harvest occurs before the summer
crop is seeded, the seed is stored in the
warehouse for only a short time. Some fac-
tors are still a challenge for the growth of
the seed sector. The major hurdle is the
deficiency in appropriate structures for
storing the seed, once the high tempera-
tures throughout the State could jeopar-
dize the quality of the product”, clarifies
Queiroz. The seeds produced in Tocantins
are traded by the main seed companies in
Brazil in all states of the Matopiba region,
also in Goiás, Pará and Mato Grosso.
