Evolução e desafios da agricultura orgânica na mesorregião do Triângulo Mineiro e Alto Paranaíba (MG): uma análise de 2016 a 2025

Abstract

Agriculture is one of the oldest activities of humanity. Humanity has made excessive use of pesticides and other management considered unsustainable and harmful to the environment and human health. Thus, systems that include more sustainable forms of agriculture have been created as an alternative for production, such as agroecology, regenerative agriculture, agriculture without the use of pesticides and organic agriculture. It is important to make it possible for those who wish to consume organic products to be available. For an agricultural product to be considered organic in Brazil, it must go through a certification process and comply with legal criteria and guidelines from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA). The Triângulo Mineiro and Alto Paranaíba (TMAP) mesoregion, in Minas Gerais (MG), is recognized for its strategic position and the leading role of Agribusiness in the Cerrado Mineiro. However, ecological sustainability initiatives or organic production initiatives need to be evidenced to encourage the transition to organic. This study aims to characterize the organic production initiatives in this mesoregion, in the period from 2016 to 2025, with data from records of the National Registry of Organic Producers (CNPO) of MAPA. Producers, enterprises, certifying entities, their type of certification, in addition to the agricultural scope, activity and products, were identified in the CNPO. It was concluded that, in the region, organic production acts to offer diversification of products and contribute to food security. There is a predominance of primary vegetable production, with a focus on olericulture, fruit growing and coffee, among others. There are also scopes for products of animal origin, animal and vegetable processing, as well as extractivism. In addition, it was observed that family farming is very important in the organic segment, its participation is effective through the Social Control Organizations (OCS), predominant certification in TMAP, with emphasis on OCS AMA & AFAGA, the entity with the highest number of registrations in the region. In addition, there is also the Participatory Conformity Assessment Body (OPAC) Brota Cerrado, demonstrating the great importance of certification by participatory system mechanisms. Certification by audit, absent only in the micro-region of Ituiutaba, focused on product processing, where IBD Certifications and ECOCERT were the certifiers with the most records.