São Paulo – In the 2010-2011 crop, foreigners have accounted for 5% of the planted area for grain in Mato Grosso, one of Brazil’s foremost agricultural states. The estimate was made by the Mato Grosso Agricultural Economy Institute (Imea) and, according to manager Daniel Latorraca, the state’s agriculture attracts foreign investors due to several factors, among them land quality, the weather, which ranks among Brazil’s most stable, and the high rate of crop mechanization.
According to the Imea manager, these conditions are combined with the global scenario, in which population growth is expected, therefore the demand for food should rise and commodities prices should be bullish. “That has attracted investors into agribusiness, and they are looking for places to allocate their resources to,” says Latorraca.
According to him, the 5% share retained by foreigners in the state’s crop concern both direct operation, with businessmen from abroad running their own production, and international capital injection into Brazilian companies in the field. Latorraca believes that for the most part, the investment lies in crops of soy, a commodity that has benefited from the worldwide scenario of price hikes.
The Imea does not know whether foreign presence in the state’s agriculture has increased, as this is the first estimate of the kind. A survey conducted by the National Institute for Colonization and Land Reform (Incra), however, confirms the high number of foreigners in the region. A survey conducted by the institute in January this year shows that there are 895,200 hectares of rural properties owned by foreign natural persons or legal entities in the state. It is the highest area in the country, at a total of 1,214 rural properties.
Vast land
Incra figures point out that foreigners own large plots in Mato Grosso, because while the state ranks first in the country in terms of land extensions owned by them, it ranks eighth in number of properties. In terms of land extension, the leading state is São Paulo, at 12,200 properties, followed by Paraná, at 5,000, Minas Gerais, at 2,600, da Bahia, at 2,200, Rio de Janeiro, at 2,100, Rio Grande do Sul, at 1,800, and Santa Catarina, at 1,300. Only then does Mato Grosso appear, followed by Pará, at 1,100, and Goiás, at 895.
In terms of land extension, the state that follows Mato Grosso has a much smaller area with foreign participation: it is São Paulo, at 537,100 hectares. Next on the list are Minas Gerais, at 509,700, Mato Grosso do Sul, at 487,300, and then Bahia, at 375,600. According to the Incra, there 34,300 rural properties owned by foreigners in Brazil, at a total of 4.5 million hectares.
Fertile land
According to the latest National Supply Company (Conab) survey, Mato Grosso planted 9.6 million hectares of grain in the 2010-2011 crop. That is, the Imea and Conab figures cross-referenced result in 482,400 hectares of land owned by foreigners. The Imea estimate concerns only agriculture, whereas the Incra’s survey, whose total is 895,200 hectares, comprises all sorts of properties, including animal husbandry.
The planted area for grain grew by 5.8% in Mato Grosso in the current crop compared with the previous one, according to the Conab’s survey. Production-wise, there should be a 7% increase, from 28.8 million tonnes in the 2009-2010 harvest to 30.8 million tonnes in the current one. Most of the crops are soy crops. Out of a total of 9.6 million hectares farmed, 6.3 million hectares are planted with commodity. The state should harvest 20.4 million tonnes of soy this year.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
