Agribusiness in Brazil takes a leap and is equivalent to the GDP of Argentina: Check out the impressive numbers

In the last 20 years, Brazilian agribusiness has reached enormous proportions, with a GDP comparable to that of Argentina and a harvest of 300 million tons.

The crop of more than 300 million tons estimated for Brazil this year, being a new record, highlights the proportion that the agribusiness gained within the national economy. Between the years 2002 and 2022, the Brazil's agricultural GDP jumped from US$ 122 billion to US$ 500 billion, without considering inflation, being the equivalent of an entire Argentina.

GDP growth in Agribusiness is linked to investments in research

According to economist José Roberto Mendonça de Barros, the Brazilian agribusiness showed a great GDP growth in the last 40 years, with great emphasis on the last 20 years. Barros says that unlike what happened in the urban sector, whether in services or industry, agribusiness has a persistent expansion, and this is the first lesson that agro teaches.

Steady growth is more important than growing a lot in a few years and falling in later years. It is a sustainable growth, making the very competitive agribusiness. This expansion, according to industry specialists, is based on investment in research and public policies for the countryside, which have led to successive records in agricultural production.

FASHION – FREE MARKET

According to National Supply Company (Conab), Brazil should break the record of 300 million tons of grain this year and position itself as the third largest cereal producer in the world, behind only the USA and China.

In two decades, the grain harvest rose from 120,2 million tons to 310,6 million, an increase of 258%. The planted area went from 43,7 million to 76,7 million hectares, an expansion of 76,5%.

Brazil overtakes the US

Data show that production expanded three times more than the area occupied by crops, which should happen due to productivity gains, due to investments in research and technology. The highlight in Brazilian fields goes to soybeans, which have adapted to the various microclimates in Brazil and are grown both in the colder regions of the South and in the tropical climate of the North and Northeast.

O Brazil overtook the US and became the largest producer of the grain, also being the main exporter today. While the 2002/2003 crop yielded 47,4 million tons of soybeans, the current crop will have 152,9 million, growth of 322%, according to Conab.

Corn, used in crop rotation with soy, grew 260%, from 47,4 million to 123 million tons. The agribusiness GDP, which is currently equivalent to one of Argentina, is calculated by the Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics (Cepea) at the University of São Paulo and will only be released in March. However, GDP should be close to US$ 500 billion.

Agribusiness doubles Brazilian average

Tamires Tangerino, a 33-year-old agronomist, technical consultant for Stoller, a company specialized in plant nutrition and physiology, has applied her knowledge to help producers in the southwest of São Paulo to reach high levels of productivity.

On the last 14th, in a commercial soy plantation by Cooperativa Agrícola de Capão Bonito, a productivity of 6.672 per hectare was obtained, double the Brazilian average and above the optimal regional average, of 4.800 kg/ha, an example of the impact of research as an engine of growth.

In this sector, it is possible to have an idea of ​​the expansion of soy in the southwest of São Paulo. In 2005, the cooperative had 55 associated farmers and none had soy as their main crop. Currently, there are 102 associates, planting 24 thousand hectares of soybean.