Soybean Production in the State of Maranhão and Its Relationship With the Gross Domestic Productoduct

Abstract

Maranhão (MA) State is among the ten largest soybean producers in Brazil and is the second largest producer in the northeastern region, with an average yield of 2,915 kg ha-1, and the evolution of this production has positively influenced the Municipal Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Thus, this study aimed to characterize soybean production in MA, analyzing data from the main producing municipalities from 2010 to 2019 and relating the value of soybean production to GDP in the period. Municipal Agricultural Production and Municipal GDP data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics were used to carry out exploratory and descriptive analyses, simple linear regression, and Pearson's correlation. To characterize the factors that influence crop yield, monthly graphs of temperature and pluviometric index were elaborated for the period of the soybean cycle in MA. The results indicated that the MA planted area evolved significantly and plantations were concentrated in the municipalities of Balsas and Tasso Fragoso, which also had the highest yields in the period, with 619,997 and 616,672 Megagram in 2018, respectively. The highest yield was observed in Buriticupu (3,900 kg ha-1) in 2019. The survey showed a strong and significant relationship between the value of production and GDPs.