Organic production in the State of Bahia, Brazil: a spatiotemporal analysis of registrations and certifying entities (2014-2020)

Abstract

Organic agriculture in Brazil has grown considerably in the last twenty years, mainly due to the creation of specific laws and regulations. This work spatially and temporally analyzed the growth in registrations of certified organic producers in the state of Bahia, between 2014 and 2020, considering data related to the identity territories (ITs) and to the nature of the certification process. Bibliographic consultations, data collection from the national register of organic producers and the elaboration of comparative maps based on the collected data were carried out. It was found that between 2015 and 2017 the annual average growth of newly registered producers was 43%. From 2018 to 2020, it fell to 4%, coinciding with a new political scenario, which is seen as a landmark in the scope of national agriculture, the end of federal departments responsible for agrarian development and the expansion and flexibilization of the pesticide market. The Litoral Sul and Baixo Sul ITs, in the south region, had the highest number of registered organic producers, with cocoa production. The ITs with the fewest registrations were the Bacia do Rio Grande, Velho Chico, Bacia do Rio Corrente and Bacia do Paramirim, in the extreme west, which is a region dominated by soybean and cotton farming. Organic producers certified by participatory assurance systems and social control organizations in direct sales represented 68% of the total registrations in 2018 and 2019. There is a need to strengthen the participatory assurance systems in environmental and territorial planning processes, and to improve the diagnosis and the availability of data on the areas of organic production in the state of Bahia. In addition, in most ITs in the state, there are gaps that generate a demand for actions of rural technical assistance and scientific research aimed at organic production.