State of Tocantins
MATOPIBA's anchor state: soybean area expanded 253% while Cerrado lost 50% of native vegetation—2023 Cerrado deforestation exceeded Amazon clearing by double.
Tocantins anchors the MATOPIBA frontier—the agricultural expansion zone (Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, Bahia) that now produces 14% of Brazilian soybeans. Created only in 1988 from northern Goiás, the state exemplifies how new political boundaries enable new economic logics. The Cerrado biome here lost 50% of native vegetation as soybean area expanded 253% between 2000-2014.
The geography is strategic: the Araguaia-Tocantins riverway could transport 20 million tonnes of corn and soybeans annually to northern ports. River barges cost 60% less than road freight for medium distances. This infrastructure advantage—combined with proximity to Itaqui and other northern ports—makes MATOPIBA grains competitive despite distance from traditional processing centers.
Agricultural transformation here is "highly mechanized and professional"—different from historical frontier expansion by smallholders. Large operations with capital access drive double-cropping (soy then corn), dramatically increasing productivity. The 2024/25 soybean forecast of 169 million tonnes nationally reflects this intensification.
But 2023 brought warning: Cerrado deforestation reached 1.1 million hectares—more than double Amazon clearing. Studies in Tocantins found farmers "skeptical toward zero-deforestation policies," viewing them as external interference. The state demonstrates how agricultural efficiency and environmental destruction coevolve—each intensifying the other.