I
f there is a real Brazilian activity that ex-
emplifies the extreme competence of
the producers and of all other links of
the supply chain in adjusting to mar-
ket realities, it is cotton farming. From
the moment the crop made it to the Cerra-
do in theCenter-West, to theNortheast and
North of the Country, it began to capture
the attention of entrepreneurs highly in-
terested with the full efficiency of its struc-
tures. The prospection for fiber varieties in
tune with the regional reality and with cli-
ent interests, the maximum use of the re-
sources and the election of quality as the
ultimate goal have put Brazil at the fore-
front of the business.
Now, Brazil occupies the steady posi-
tion as one of the leading global producers
of fiber, ranking fifth in harvested volumes
and fourth on the list of the biggest export-
ers. The volume of the 2016/17 growing
season was estimated at almost 1.5 mil-
lion tons of fiber by the National Food Sup-
ply Agency (Conab). It was slightly up from
the previous year, but the numbers are still
a long way from the lush crop harvested in
the 2012/13 growing season, when the vol-
ume amounted to almost 2million tons.
What is worth checking out during this
timeframe is the gradual decline in the
planted area, which reaches about 940
thousand hectares in the 2016/17 grow-
ing season, against 1.393 million hectares
in 2012/13. The harvested volumes equal-
ly shrank, in line with foreign demand
(and domestic demand, adversely affect-
ed by the economic downturn), but not in
the same proportion. The compensation
came in the form of productivity, which
soared from about 1,400 kilograms of fiber
to 1,600 kilograms per hectare. More than
that, the aggregation of an ever-increasing
number of differentials to the quality of the
fiber, in search of the intrinsic traits in tune
with the needs of the textile industry and
all other cotton-demanding sectors, has
turned into a target.
Suchmeasures, alongwith the focus on
socio-environmental programs, ensuring
the international certifications that attest
to the production systems, cotton farming
stabilized and looks to the horizon firmly
and confidently. Around here, in terms of
goals, the sky is no longer the limit.
easilyadjuststonewmarketrealities,givespriority
toqualityandcontinuessupplyingtheworld
The Brazilian cotton crop
Not even
thesky isthelimit
Sílvio Ávila
8
