Northeastern Brazil’s soybean yield has reached an all-time high in 2023, averaging an output of 3.6 thousand tons per hectare, as stated by the National Supply Company (Conab).
The ongoing crop season sees unprecedented yield levels across all states in the region with the highest soybean harvests.
This soybean crop will be the most significant in the Northeast’s history if realized.
Conab projects the 2023 harvest to total 15 million tons, surpassing India’s anticipated yield by 3 million tons, even though India is the world’s fifth-largest producer.
The core of Northeast Brazil’s soy cultivation lies in three states: Bahia, Maranhão, and Piauí.
Bahian farmers lead the pack, expected to produce 7.7 million tons, followed by Maranhão with 4 million tons and Piauí with 3.5 million tons.
Soy farming was introduced to these states, mirroring its spread in the Central-West in the 1980s.
Pioneering farmers from different parts of Brazil began settling in the region’s savannah areas.
Like the Central-West, the Northeast’s expansion is attributed to plant adaptation efforts and cultivation technology innovations achieved through collaboration between Embrapa and local farmers. These advancements triggered an agricultural surge in the area.
Since the inception of soy cultivation, productivity has tripled, and the cultivated area has grown two thousand-fold.
To put it in perspective, the 1980 harvest totaled 2.2 thousand tons.
This means that the Northeast’s 2023 soybean yield is projected to be 7,000 times higher than the region’s initial recorded harvest by Conab.