With only 10% of cultivated area under irrigation, Latin America is expected to expand in the irrigation market in the coming years. Of a total of 175.8 million hectares cultivated, only 18 million hectares have irrigation equipment installed, which is below the 19% of the world average. This was highlighted by the consultant Carlos Cogo to executives and partners of Banco DLL in a conference with participants in Porto Alegre (RS), São Paulo (SP), Mexico City (Mexico), Santiago (Chile) and Buenos Aires (Argentina) held in the last week.
According to Cogo, there is significant potential, especially for spraying equipment aimed at growing grains (soy, corn and wheat) and fruit growing in the region. “The movement is based on the advance of agricultural areas in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Mexico. In Argentina alone, there are 6.2 million hectares to be harvested, “said the consultant.
In Brazil, the potential for irrigation is around 61 million hectares. “This represents ten times more than the irrigated area today and refers to regions already mapped by federal agencies,” Cogo said. According to him, the greatest potential lies in the Midwest. However, the expansion in both Brazil and in other Latin American countries is a cultural issue.
“The producers’ first concern is still with productivity, followed by land acquisition and leasing. Finally, come irrigation and storage. It is contradictory, it shows that there is still a lack of awareness. “Another bottleneck, the consultant mentioned, is the lack of skilled labor to handle increasingly modern equipment and low internet access for smart items to operate. “Today, only 0.88% of the Brazilian rural area has access to broadband. In Uruguay, coverage is 90%. “
There are currently 6.1 million irrigated hectares in Brazil, a territory that has grown between 4.4% and 7.3% a year since 1960. The central pivot, Cogo explained, is still the most widely used system. In the last 15 years, Brazil has expanded its irrigated area by 2.27 million hectares, an increase of 60%. Most of this expansion is due mainly to the use of drip and sprinkler equipment by central pivot.