Agriculture in Brazil
Agricultural fields near Perdizes, Minas Gerais
Cultivated land	91.9 million ha (2022)[1]
Agricultural land (% of land area)	28.6% (2021)[2]
Rural population (% of total population)	12% (2022)[3]
Main products	Soybeans, corn, sugarcane, coffee
Production
Grains	322.8 million tons (2022)[4]
Major products
Cane and derivatives	630.7 million tons (2020)[5]
Soy	154.6 million tons (2022)[4]
Corn	131.9 million tons (2022)[4]
Participation in the economy
Crop value	R$830.1 billion (US$154.01 billion) (2022)[6]
Contribution to GDP	4.53% (2008)[7]
Agribusiness GDP (Rural industry and trade, livestock and agriculture)	26.46% (2008)[7]

The agriculture of Brazil is historically one of the principal bases of Brazil's economy. While its initial focus was on sugarcane, Brazil eventually became the world's largest exporter of coffee, soybeans, beef, and crop-based ethanol.^[8]

The success of agriculture during the Estado Novo (New State), with Getúlio Vargas, led to the expression, "Brazil, breadbasket of the world".^[9]

As of 2009, Brazil had about 106,000,000 hectares (260,000,000 acres) of undeveloped fertile land – a territory larger than the combined area of France and Spain.^[10]

According to a 2008 IBGE study, despite the global financial crisis, Brazil had record agricultural production, with growth of 9.1%, principally motivated by favorable weather. The production of grains in the year reached an unprecedented 145,400,000 tons. That record output employed an additional 4.8% in planted area, totalling 65,338,000 hectares and producing $148 billion Reals. The principal products were corn (13.1% growth) and soy (2.4% growth).

The southern one-half to two-thirds of Brazil has a semi-temperate climate, higher rainfall, more fertile soil, more advanced technology and input use, adequate infrastructure and more experienced farmers. This region produces most of Brazil's grains, oilseeds, and exports.

The drought-ridden northeast region and Amazon basin lack well-distributed rainfall, good soil, adequate infrastructure and development capital. Although mostly occupied by subsistence farmers, both regions are increasingly important as exporters of forest products, cocoa and tropical fruits. Central Brazil contains substantial areas of grassland. Brazilian grasslands are far less fertile than those of North America, and are generally suited only for grazing.

Brazil's agricultural production in 2018

In 2018, Brazil:^[11]

• It was by far the largest world producer of sugarcane (746.8 million tons). The 2nd place, India, produces about half of Brazil's production (376.9 million tons). Brazil uses much of the cane to produce ethanol, in addition to exporting a lot of sugar.
• It was the 2nd largest world producer of soy (117.8 million tons), second only to the United States. However, Brazil surpassed US soybean production in 2020.;^[12]
• It was the 3rd largest world producer of maize (82.2 million tons), third only to the US and China;
• It was the 5th largest world producer of cassava (17.6 million tons), fifth only to Nigeria, Thailand, Congo and Ghana;
• It was the largest world producer of orange (16.7 million tons);
• It was the 9th largest world producer of rice (11.7 million tons);
• It was the 3rd largest world producer of banana (6.7 million tons), third only to India and China. If we also consider the plantains, Brazil is the 7th largest producer;
• It produced 5.4 million tons of wheat;
• It was the 4th largest world producer of cotton (4.9 million tons), losing only to India, USA and China;
• It was the 10th largest world producer of tomato (4.1 million tons);
• It produced 3.6 million tons of potato;
• It was the world's largest producer of coffee (3.5 million tons);
• It was the largest world producer of guaraná (3.3 million tons);
• Produced 3.2 million tons of legume;
• It was the 3rd largest world producer of beans (2.9 million tons), third only to Myanmar and India;
• It was the 3rd largest world producer of pineapple (2.6 million tons), only to Costa Rica and the Philippines;
• It was the 5th largest world producer of coconut (2.3 million tons), losing to Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Sri Lanka;
• It was the 4th largest world producer of watermelon (2.3 million tons), losing to China, Iran and Turkey;
• It was the 7th largest world producer of sorghum (2.2 million tons);
• It was the 7th largest world producer of mango (including mangosteen and guava) (1.9 million tons);
• It was the 14th largest world producer of grape (1.6 million tons);
• It was the 14th largest world producer of onion (1.5 million tons);
• Produced 1.5 million tons of palm oil;
• It was the 5th largest world producer of lemon (1.4 million tons), losing to India, Mexico, China and Argentina;
• It was the largest world producer of açaí (1.3 million tons);^[13]
• It was the 13th largest world producer of apple (1.1 million tons);
• It was the 2nd largest world producer of papaya (1 million tons), second only to India;
• Produced 996 thousand tons of tangerine;
• Produced 897 thousand tons of oats;
• It was the 2nd largest world producer of tobacco (762 thousand tons), second only to China;
• It produced 741 thousand tons of sweet potato;
• It was the 14th largest world producer of peanut (563 thousand tons);
• It produced 546 thousand tons of yerba mate;
• It produced 330 thousand tons of barley;
• It was the 6th largest world producer of cocoa (239 thousand tons);
• It was the 6th largest world producer of avocado (235 thousand tons);
• Produced 199 thousand tons of natural rubber;
• It was the 6th largest world producer of persimmon (156 thousand tons);
• It was the 9th largest world producer of cashew nuts (141 thousand tons);
• It produced 135 thousand tons of sunflower;
• It was the largest world producer of Brazil nuts (36 thousand tons);

In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products.^[11]

History

However, the air of the country is very healthful, fresh, and as temperate as that of Entre Douro e Minho, we have found the two climates alike at this season. There is great plenty, an infinitude of waters. The country is so well-favoured that if it were rightly cultivated it would yield everything, because of its waters.^[14]

— Pero Vaz de Caminha, Carta de Pêro Vaz de Caminha (Full text on Wikisource – in Portuguese)

Early farming

Brazilian Natives ("Indians") began farming some 12,000 years ago. They farmed cassava, peanuts, tobacco, sweet potatoes and maize, in addition to extracting the essence from other local plants such as the pequi and the babassu. Production was for food, straw or lumber. They cultivated local fruits such as jabuticaba, cashews, Spondias mombin and Goiabas.^{[citation needed]}

The Indians both influenced and were influenced by the Europeans who arrived in the fifteenth century. The Portuguese "nourished themselves with wood-flour, slaughtered the big game to eat, packed their nets and imitated the rough, free life", in the words of Pedro Calmon.^[15]

Until other crops began to be exported, brazilwood was the main reason Portugal wanted control in Brazil.^[16]

Fires

One practice of indigenous Brazilians was to clear land for cultivation by burning it. This provided arable land and ashes for use as fertilizer and soil cover.^{[citation needed]}

Scholars such as Monteiro Lobato considered this practice to be harmful. However, burning only became a problem when the Europeans adopted the practice aggressively around 1500, divided land into farms, began monocropping, etc. The combination of burning with these new farming methods decimated native flora.^[17]

International problems

Brazilian coffee production exceeded global demand at the beginning of the 20th century. This resulted in the Taubaté Agreement, where the State began acquiring surplus for destruction and planting seedlings was forbidden—with the goal of maintaining a minimum profitable price.^[18]

Rubber suffered from foreign competition. In 1870, English smugglers smuggled rubber tree seedlings out of Brazil and in 1895 began production in Asia. In the 1910s and 1920s this competition practically eliminated Brazilian production.^[18]

Agronomy schools

In 1887 during the Empire era, the first school dedicated to the training of agronomists opened in the city of Cruz das Almas. In 1883, in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, a second school opened.^[19]

The first school was officially recognized thirty-five years after its creation, with Decree 8.319/1910. The agronomist profession only came to be recognized in 1933. Seventy regular agronomy colleges operate in Brazil. The day the decree was publicized, 12 October, became the "Day of the Agronomist".^[19]

Professional registration is managed by Regional Engineering and Architecture Councils, integrated at the national level by CONFEA.^[20] Educational activity is supported by the Federation of Brazilian Agronomy Students.^{[citation needed]}

Diversification: 1960–1990

The Brazilian Enterprise for Agricultural Research (EMBRAPA) was established during the military regime in 1973 with the objective of diversifying production. The body was responsible for the support of new crops, adapted to the country's diverse regions. The expansion of agricultural borders towards the Cerrado had begun, and of monocultural latifundia with production at a semi-industrial scale of soybeans, cotton and beans.^[18] Czech-Brazilian researcher Johanna Döbereiner helped lead Brazil's Green Revolution, winning her the UNESCO Science Prize for her work on nitrogen-fixing microorganisms.^[21]

In 1960, four main agricultural products were exported, growing by the early 1990s to nineteen. Brazil also moved "downstream" to expand post-harvest processing. In the 1960s, unprocessed goods made up 84% of total exports, falling to 20% by 1990.^[18]

Agricultural promotion policies included subsidized credits, bank debt write-offs and exports subsidies (in some cases, reaching 50% of the product value).^[18]

Mechanization: 1990s

Beginning with the 1994 creation of Plano Real for monetary stabilization, Brazilian agriculture went through a radical transformation: the State cut subsidies and the market began to finance agriculture, leading to the replacement of manpower with machines. Brazil's rural population fell from 20,700,000 in 1985 to 17,900,000 in 1995, followed by a decrease in import taxes on inputs and other measures that forced Brazilian producers to adapt to global practices. The raise of productivity, mechanization (with reduction of costs) and professionalization marked that period.^[18]

Irrigation

The first irrigation experiments in Brazil occurred in Rio Grande do Sul, for cultivating rice. The first record dates to 1881 with the construction of the Cadro dam which began in 1903.^{[clarification needed]} However, the practice broadened in the last thirty years of the 20th century between the years 1970 to 1980.^[22]

Private initiative developed irrigation in the South and Southeast regions.^{[citation needed]}

In the Northeast official bodies, such as DNOCS and CODEVASF, led the way beginning in the 1950s. In 1968, the Executive Group on Irrigation and Agrarian Development (GEIDA) was set up, and two years later it instituted the Multi-annual Program of Irrigation (PPI). The majority of resources were directed to the Northeast.^[22] These federal initiatives, however, did not achieve success. In 1985 a new guidance and in 1996 a new direction produced the New Model of Irrigation Project. The Project intended to broaden the use of irrigation in agriculture and drew on more than 1,500 national and foreign experts.^[22]

According to the World Bank, Brazil's irrigation potential is about 29,000,000 hectares (110,000 sq mi). In 1998, however, drought reduced capacity to only 2.98 million hectares.^[23]

At the end of the 20th century, the country primarily used surface irrigation (59%), followed by overhead (35%) and then targeted irrigation. The South represented the largest irrigated area (more than 1.1 million hectares), followed by the Southeast (800 thousand hectares) and Northeast (490 thousand hectares).^[23]

Currently, a regulatory milestone of irrigation is making its way through the National Congress of Brazil, through bill 6381/2005,^[22] which aims at replacing the Law 6662/1979, which regulates irrigation policy.^[24]

Water resources policy is regulated by Law 9433/1997, and managed by the National Council.^[22]

Infrastructure

Storage

Crop storage facilities require expansion in order to keep up with increasing production. Brazilian storage capacity in 2003 was 75% of grain production,^[25] well short of the ideal of 120%.^[26]

Farm-based crop storage (e.g., using silos) is not common in Brazil. Lack of storage forces produce to be commercialized quickly. According to Conab data, only 11% of warehouses are located on farms (by comparison Argentina has 40%, the European Union has 50% and Canada has 80%). Farmers rely on third party storage services.^{[citation needed]}

Lack of access to capital, exacerbated by financial instability from factors such as exchange rate volatility, prevents most producers from building significant storage.^[26]

Transport

Crop transport is a longstanding structural problem for Brazilian agriculture. Calmon noted that, since the Empire, "the disposal of the harvest is difficult" and indicated that "the old projects of iron roads or cartable paths, linking the coast to the central mountains are resisted by skeptical statesmen, quoting Thiers, who, in 1841, believed that railways were not convenient to France".^[27]

Crops are immediately trucked to market via highways, mostly in poor traffic conditions at high cost.^[28]

For the 2008–2009 harvest, for example, the Federation of Agriculture and Livestock of Goiás denounced poor road conditions in the Center-West region, despite repeated requests for federal assistance over several years.^[29]

In 2006 the federal government issued a National Plan of Logistics and Transportation, meant to improve production flow.^[30] Lack of investment, however, continues to be the main obstacle to distribution logistics.^{[citation needed]}

Regulatory stocks and minimum price

A good example of the need of regulatory stocks is in the production of ethanol as a fuel from sugar cane. The elevated price variation during the harvest year, that varies for climatic and plant health reasons, justifies the formation of stocks.^[31] Stocks also aim to stabilize farmers' revenues, and avoid price fluctuations between harvests.^{[clarification needed]}

Until the 1980s, Brazil employed the Minimum Prices Policy. That policy had lost relevance by the 1990s, due to globalization.^[32]

The composition of stocks at the national level is the responsibility of the National Food Supply Company (Conab).^[33]

Family farming

Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Tobacco_in_Brazil
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