Agricultural productivity between 1975 and 2017 has driven the sector, thanks to annual growth at an average rate of 3.43%, higher than that of American agriculture, which averaged 1.38% per year. In a more recent period, from 2000 to 2017, the Brazilian average reached 3.8 % per year.
According to José Garcia Gasques, general coordinator of Policy Assessment and Information at the Secretariat of Agricultural Policy (SPA) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA), one of the authors of the study, a set of factors influenced productivity. The most important were sectoral policies, increased investment, financing through rural credit, the opening of foreign markets to national products and the adoption of new production systems.
States that lead agricultural production and exports are also those that have the highest productivity growth rates, such as Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Goiás and Bahia, among others.
The study also shows that the average growth rate of agricultural production was between 3.8 % and 4% between 1975 and 2017. These rates correspond to an increase of almost five times the agricultural product. The increase was due to the growth in the quantity produced, and also to the inclusion of products with higher added value, such as meat, fruits, products from the sugar and alcohol sector and grains. The change in the composition of production was also responsible for the productivity gains.
In 42 years, grain production increased from 40.6 million tons to 237.8 million tons. The highlights are soybean and second-crop corn crops. Beef production increased from 1.8 million tons to 7.7 million tons. Pork production increased from 500,000 tons to 3.8 million tons, and chicken production increased from 373,000 tons to 13.6 million tons.
Among the productivity indicators (labor, land and capital), the greatest growth in the use of these factors has occurred in capital, consisting of tractors, fertilizers and pesticides. According to Gasques, the results of the study reflect that the qualification of personnel employed in agriculture is slow. However, the provision of equipment for the work, such as the use of tractors and harvesters, was decisive for the observed performance.
The study had the collaboration of employees of the Agricultural Policy Secretariat of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, researchers from the Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics (Cepea/USP) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Access the full text of Study of Brazilian Agricultural Productivity from 1975 to 2017 – some updates.
