ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF CONVENTIONAL AND TRANSGENIC CORN CULTIVARS IN THE NORTH AND WEST REGIONS OF THE STATE OF SÃO PAULO (Atena Editora)

Abstract

More than 90% of the corn area in Brazil uses transgenic technology, but due to the loss of resistance to pests and a significant increase in seed prices, an economic comparison between transgenic and conventional materials is necessary. The objective was to study the production costs and profitability of the corn crop using conventional and transgenic cultivars in the North and West of SP. Average yield data obtained from regional trials of maize cultivars in five locations, consisting of 15 conventional and 17 transgenic cultivars, were used. With the Tukey test at 5%, the cultivars were allocated into three groups, classified as high, medium and low productivity. The cost structures involved effective operational cost (COE), and economic indicators. It was verified that in the groups of high and medium productivity, the COEs per hectare for the transgenic was superior to the conventional one and, because the average productivity of both were equivalent, the profitability index of the conventional one was higher than the transgenic one. In the group with low productivity, the transgenics produced more, and even so, the profitability indexes were very close (59.30% in the transgenic and 58.03% in the conventional). The largest percentage difference in COE occurred in the seed item. The variation in the production cost per bag of corn in the conventional one was R$ 16.31 (high), R$ 17.99 (medium) and R$ 20.53 (low) and in the transgenic R$ 17.66 (high), BRL 19.51 (average) and BRL 19.91 (low). It is concluded, under the conditions of the present study, that there was no statistical difference between the transgenic and conventional cultivars in terms of effective production cost.