EVOLUTION OF CORN PRODUCTION IN THE 1ST AND 2ND HARVEST IN THE TRIÂNGULO MINER IN MINAS GERAIS: A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

Corn (Zea mays L.) is one of the most produced cereals in the world, Brazil is one of the most important producers. The objective of this work was to carry out a survey in order to evaluate corn production during the historical period of 20 years in eight main municipalities in the Triângulo Mineiro region in the State of Minas Gerais. The research was carried out based on the qualitative-descriptive model with an exploratory basis based on secondary data through the SIDRA platform of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) with the 2022 agricultural census in the historical period from 2003 to 2022, measuring the evolution of corn in the study region. 5 Municipalities showed a negative percentage change in the quantity of corn produced in the 1st harvest. The production of corn produced in the 2nd harvest increased significantly in 2022, with emphasis on the municipality of Capinópolis, which despite presenting the lowest percentage variation (-121.82) in the quantity produced in the first harvest for 2022 (1,950 tons) when comparing the quantity produced in 2003 (6,000 tons), resulted in a quantity produced of 98,001 tons in 2022 in the second harvest, this is due to the expansion of soybean cultivation in the region, increasing the succession of crops (with corn); the municipality of Araguari stands out for presenting the highest percentage variation (135.29) for the average production yield in 2022 compared to 2003. Conversely, corn productivity presented a positive percentage variation for all municipalities studied. It was possible to conclude, therefore, that corn production in the 2nd harvest was positive in the 2022 data compared to 2003, this information emphasizes that the increase in technological investment in line with the expansion and dissemination of knowledge for better exploitation of corn in the region for grain production purposes, ethanol and animal feed have boosted production over the years