The productive chains of agribusiness are highlighted in a study conducted by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), produced to evaluate the degree of competitiveness and preparation of the Brazilian industrial sector, for the so-called “Industry 4.0” era, marked by the adoption of technologies such as robotics,cybersafety,big dataand augmented reality.
The study segmented the national industry in 24 sectors and measured the competitive power of each one, according to three aspects: productivity, exports and innovation rate. At the highest level are sectors that are the tip of productive chains of agribusiness: food, tobacco, beverages, pulp and paper. In addition to them, the extractive sector is also included in the group. All with high competitive efficiency, sometimes higher than international averages.
The same study reveals an opposing and alarming side, with 14 industrial sectors at the lowest level of global competitiveness – with little export, little innovation and low productivity. They represent 60% of the evaluated sectors, 38% of the Brazilian industrial GDP and have been deserving discussions for a recovery program, involving entities, companies and government. This is also of interest to agriculture, as it would strengthen the economy and the internal market.
The four industrial sectors highlighted in the study of the Confederation are a mirror and show a more positive fact when one looks at the agro end to end. On the one hand we have the competitive strength diagnosed by the CNI; on the other hand, a dynamic and innovative rural production system, whose total productivity of production factors grew by 3.53% per year in the last 40 years. Scale, technology and quality were the pillars of the field in this advance.
What came before in this successful race for competitiveness? The industry or the countryside? Classical economic theory says that in the value-added chains, the modernizing impulse comes from the point of demand. But in the swift, integrated, and hyper-technological world of the 21st century, this may be a false question, for evolution must be aligned and walk along the entire food production system – from field to table.
There is no more time to lose the tram. Who does not follow stays behind and stays out. Who among us does not know such an example among neighbors of the same city, friends or relatives? Today, the strong position of agribusiness and the industrial sectors associated with it requires a mantra: to seek and maintain the top of efficiency, to sustain competitiveness. This is true for the whole world, in agriculture and in the industry connected to it.
It is worth to the farmer of FLV, the agricultural company of commodities, the cattle rancher with good genetics and good cattle, the small pig farmer integrated to an exporter production system. Innovation is the name of the game and management the icing on the cake. And what will sometimes be on the agenda will be the competitive survival and economic growth of a producer, a cooperative or an entire industry.
Coriolan Xavier is Vice-President of Communication of the Sustainable Agricultural Scientific Council (CCAS), Professor of the Agribusiness Studies Center of ESPM