T
he Brazilian target to exceed
the 100 million ton soybean
barrier, vigorously pursued
over the past few years, was
successfully achieved in the
2016/17 growing season, greatly exceed-
ing expectations. After two seasons with a
crop of 95 to 96 million tons, this time the
volume surpassed 114 million tons, an ab-
solute record, also ascertained in planted
area and productivity. This has happened
in all regions throughout the Country, with
the only exception of a slight decrease
in planted area in the South. In physical
terms, it was a golden year for Brazil as far
as the biggest farm crop goes, reinvigorat-
ing its successful global trajectory, where
the Country is the leading exporter and the
second largest producer.
While the 2015/16 growing season ex-
perienced a crop shortfall due to climate
related problems (especially in the North),
the season in question has benefited from
good weather conditions almost through-
out all the regions in the Country, according
to surveys conducted by the National Food
Supply Agency (Conab). Besides the ris-
ing trend in cultivation, which went up 2%,
productivity recovered significantly, and
was up around 17%, with production soar-
ing 19.5%. The planted area has been ris-
Up in the
clouds
Center-West regionaccounted for 44%of the entire soy crop
Braziliansoybeancrophitrecordhigh
inthe2016/17growingseason, inarea,
productivityandsize, inallregions
ares a year). Several changes in the produc-
tion systems limitedan increase in this item.
“Even so, soybean productivity rates soared
almost throughout all the regions, which at-
tests that researchworks, technology devel-
opment and transference proved greatly ef-
ficient”, says researcher Alvadi Balbinot.
An analysis conducted by Embrapa at-
tests that soy crops in Brazil are grown in
different environmental conditions, includ-
ing cold regions with altitudes higher than
1,200 meters, warm regions with low al-
titudes and latitudes, besides a variety of
soils, thus resulting into different produc-
tion potentials. The Center-West region, ac-
cording to the final number released by
Conab regarding the 2016/17 growing sea-
son, was responsible for 43.96% of the to-
tal produced in the Country, followedby the
South region, with 35.58%, while the North-
east accounts for 8.45%, the Southeast, for
7.15% and the North, for 4.85%. The farm-
ers in the North and Northeast, in turn, are
devotingmore andmore land to the crop.
n
ing constantly since the 2007/08 season, to-
taling 33.9 million hectares in the 2016/17
crop year, while performance per area and,
inconsequence, the sizeof thecropsuffered
oscillations during the period, but reached
the top during the season in question.
Record average productivity ascertained
by Conab in the Country reached 3,364 ki-
lograms per hectare. Up to that time, a per-
formance in excess of 3 thousand kilograms
had only been achieved in the 2010/11 sea-
son, with 3,115 kg/ha. Upon evaluating the
behavior of the crop in ten decades (from
the 1996/97 to the 2015/16 season), not yet
including the recent bumper crop, Embra-
pa Soybean already maintains that bigger
Brazilian production over the period (3.5
million tons, or 13.4% a year) resulted from
the bigger planted area (one million hect-
Inor Ag. Assmann
20
Fonte:
Conab, setembro de 2017.
O GRÃO POR REGIÃO
the kernel per region
Números das safras de soja 2015/16 e 2016/17 no Brasil
Regiões
Área
Produtividade
Produção
(mil ha)
(kg/ha)
(mil t)
Centro-Oeste
14.925,1 15.193,6
2.931 3.301 43.752,6 50.149,9
Sul
11.545,4 11.459,6
3.047 3.542 35.181,1 40.592,8
Nordeste
2.878,2 3.095,8
1.774 3.115
5.107,1 9.644,7
Sudeste
2.326,9 2.351,4
3.255 3.467
7.574,9 8.151,5
Norte
1.576,3 1.809,0
2.423 3.061
3.818,9 5.536,4
País
33.251,9 33.909,4
2.870 3.364 95.434,6 114.075,3
