Productive Concentration in the Agricultural Frontier of Matopiba: Performance of Its Three Main Crops — Soybean, Maize and Cotton^*

Abstract: This article sought to analyze, through data from the Municipal Agricultural Production (PAM), the production and productivity evolution of the main crops (soybean, maize and cotton) in the Matopiba region — confluence of the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia — the new Brazilian agricultural frontier. From 1998 to 2017, the Herfindahl-Hirschman and Gini indexes, combined with the geographic-distributive analysis, allowed to conclude that: a) the most relevant volumes of production have been concentrated in the central-eastern portion of Matopiba, between the west of Bahia and the south of Maranhão and Piauí; b) there is a trend of spatial dispersion of production in the three crops; c) overall productivity has been below the national average in soybean and, in maize and cotton, has performances compatible with the main producing centers of the country; d) it is identified close productivity between the microregions (MCRs) in soybean and cotton and, although still relatively uneven between the MCRs, there is indicative of convergence of the indicator in maize; e) there are cities that appear in the productions and productivity of soybean, corn and cotton, which can serve as a benchmark for agribusiness in the region.

Key words: distribution of production; agricultural production and productivity; agribusiness; regional economic activity

JEL codes: D30, O13, Q13, R11