Cluster Analysis Of Soybean Farms Participating In The Agro Plus Program In The State Of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

Brazil is the world largest producer and exporter of soy and sustainability is a key issue for Brazilian import markets. In this context, the Agro Plus program, former Soja Plus, was set up in the early 2010s by the Brazilian Vegetable Oil Industries and Farmers Associations (ABIOVE) with the objective of improving the environmental and social conditions of the agricultural production. The Agro Plus has been implemented in 5.300 farms nationwide using a checklist which comprises around 230 indicators divided into Social-Environmental and Rural Construction major themes. In Minas Gerais State the program is coordinate by the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) and the Farmers´ Association. Based on the updated version of the checklist applied in 123 farms during the 2021/22 season in Minas Gerais, the objective of the paper was to identify critical indicators and groups of farms, allowing the discussion and proposition of individual and collective actions. By the cluster analysis, three groups of farms (A, B and C) were identified comprising of 18, 77 and 22 farms respectively. Identified critical indicators and the analysis of farms´ groups allowed the proposition of focused capacity building to specific group of farms. The expansion of the analysis, including data from other Brazilian states, will allow a more robust evaluation of the program and comparisons between the different regions. Furthermore, it would be very opportune to include data from other states and discuss the results considering the requirements of specific markets, such as China.