Brazil Cotton: Traceability Promises Are Running Ahead of What Most Farmers Can Actually Deliver

Digital tools, traceability systems and sustainability protocols are being presented across the region as the route to stronger market access. Where does that story still run ahead of practical farm reality, especially in places where costs, training and infrastructure remain weak?
Nelson Dias Suassuna: All of this is true for cotton produced on a large scale, which has helped Brazil become the world's largest exporter of cotton fibre. However, there is still a long way to go, especially in countries where cotton cultivation is incipient or where it is done only to meet local demands.

In your article in the 'ICAC Recorder', Brazil's rise rests on three linked shifts: migration of production into the Cerrado, strong producer organisation, and research-led adaptation of cotton to that biome. Which of these was the real turning point, and which one still gets too little credit?
Nelson Dias Suassuna: The three points are convergent and interconnected. I would add two more factors that are no less important: the innovative spirit of the Brazilian cotton growers and public and private agricultural financing. Now, returning to the initial points, it is important to highlight the reason for the migration of cotton-producing areas in the 1980s. At that time, the largest areas of land cultivated with cotton were located in the semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil (Caatinga biome) with perennial cotton (Gossypium hirsutum race Marie Galante) with high-quality fibre and very low productivity. There was also cotton production in the southeast/south of the country, mainly in the states of São Paulo and Paraná with Upland cotton.

With the arrival in Brazil of the cotton boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) in the 1980s, the already weakened crops in the Northeast of the country were practically decimated. This fact also contributed to the decline in production in the South/Southeast, causing cultivation regions to migrate to the Central-West, in the Cerrado biome, with a more suitable climate and larger farms more suited to mechanisation. The adoption of cutting-edge technology, especially for cotton harvest, attracted producers, who were also favoured by research conducted by Embrapa, including the development of cotton cultivars that combined productivity and fibre quality adapted to this new environment.

Mechanisation initiatives in the 1990s (such as at Itamarati Norte Farm) demonstrated the viability of large-scale production, focusing on high productivity and fibre quality. Soon after, in 1999, Abrapa (Brazilian Cotton Producers Association) was created, initiating greater organisation of the sector, both from a production and institutional standpoint. The combination of these factors resulted in increased strength for Brazilian cotton.

You note that Brazil remains globally competitive despite sharply higher production costs, especially for chemicals, fertilisers and biotechnology fees. How durable is that model if input inflation persists and climate instability keeps raising production risk?
Nelson Dias Suassuna: Brazilian cotton exports are competitive because of their high productivity, achieved through the use of cutting-edge genetics, advanced biotechnologies, intensive use of chemical and biological inputs, and favoured by the climate and soil conditions found in the Cerrado region. However, profit margins are not large, although still at comfortable levels.

Medium and large-scale cotton producers in Brazil have invested heavily in machinery and fibre processing infrastructure; therefore, they may reduce the cultivated area at some point, but they will not abandon cotton cultivation in the short and medium term due to any crisis that further inflates input costs. To ensure greater competitiveness of the national fibre, efforts are being made to constantly improve fibre quality and logistics.

To mitigate potential climate instabilities, significant efforts are being made to increase the area of irrigated crops, especially in regions with less predictable rainy seasons. For example, the state of Bahia, the second largest national cotton producer, has more than tripled its irrigated area in recent years, reaching over 40% of the cotton cultivated area under irrigation. In the state of Mato Grosso, the main national producer, responsible for approximately 71% of all national fibre production, irrigated areas are less frequent, since the rainy season is much more predictable.

Your piece argues that the next stage for Brazil includes boll-weevil-resistant cultivars, biological controls, Pima adapted to the Cerrado and even gossypol-free seeds for new end uses. Which of these is genuinely strategic for the sector's future, and which is still more promise than commercial reality?
Nelson Dias Suassuna: Currently, cotton produced in Brazil is moving towards improving fibre quality. Ensuring high-quality fibres (with greater length, strength, and appropriate fineness) and free from impurities can lead to higher prices for these fibres in the international market. In addition, the production of long staple cultivars (similar to or superior to the American Acala) is already underway in small commercial areas.

In addition to fibre quality, the use of biological inputs has increased significantly in recent years, and is also strategic for the sector's future, proving highly relevant both for reducing production costs and increasing the sustainability of cotton cultivation.

In the medium term, gossypol-free cotton varieties will be available for using the cottonseed in non-ruminant animal feed. With regard to Pima cotton, there is still a long way to go in adapting and selecting it for the Cerrado environment, due to its high susceptibility to diseases that occur in tropical environments, particularly foliar diseases favoured by the humid and hot climate of this region.

In the more distant future, it is hoped that biotechnological events for resistance to the cotton boll weevil will be obtained through transgenesis, but there has been no significant progress in this direction yet.