LAND STRUCTURE MARANHÃO, TOCANTINS, PIAUÍ AND BAHIA (MATOPIBA): LAND GINI INDEX IN THE YEARS OF 2000

Abstract

The Matopiba territory was established by the Federal Government in 2015 and includes portions of four states of the Brazilian Cerrado — Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia, as a result of the expansion of agricultural activities. It is known that agribusiness contributes to the concentration of land, due to its mode of production and that the available information on land distribution is detailed in many classes, which makes evaluation difficult. Therefore, this study aims to present an indicator of land concentration in Matopiba. Specifically, it is intended to estimate the Gini Land Index, for the territory (including portions of states and municipalities); verify if there is homogeneity of this index; in addition to spatializing it for better visualization. For this purpose, data from the 17 area strata of agricultural establishments in the 337 municipalities of Matopiba, present in the 2006 and 2017 Agricultural Censuses, were used, which were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results point to the homogeneity of the GI Lands classified as strong in the two years surveyed, that is, a strong concentration of land is common, before and after the institutionalization of the territory. In the period, there was an increase in concentration in the IG Terras in 17 municipalities among the 20 largest producers of temporary crops, with emphasis on soybean/corn production in Bahia and Maranhão.