Growth and instability of the 1992/93 - 2016/17 soybean crops in the main producing states of Brazil

The increase in productivity and production of agricultural activities has been the response to the expansion of global demand for food and energy. Consequently, soybean production has been among the economic activities that have shown significant growth nationally and globally in recent decades. In this context, it is important for policymakers and other agents involved in the grain production chain to pay attention to the instability with which increases in production and productivity occur over time. Based on these inferences, the objective of this work was to evaluate the instability and growth rate of planted area, production, and productivity of soybeans in the main producing states throughout the 1992/93 to 2016/17 growing seasons. Instability was determined through the application of the Cuddy-Della Valle index, and the growth rate was calculated from log-linear regression, with subsequent decomposition analysis. It was observed that all variables, in all states, showed a growth trend. This was particularly evident in changes in planted area, which is the main defining element of production. Low levels of instability were observed in planted area, production, and productivity in most of the regions analyzed.