Goiás Dominates Brazil's Sunflower Output and Emerges as Corn Cluster Hub

The state of Goiás is projected to account for roughly 74.6% of Brazil’s 2025/26 sunflower harvest, translating to about 83,200 tonnes out of a national total of 111,500 tonnes – a 12% increase from the previous season. The cultivated area has risen from 47,000 to 63,000 hectares, reinforcing Goiás’s position as the country’s leading sunflower producer since 2020/21. Sunflower yields support the edible‑oil industry and also supply cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, animal feed, bio‑fuels and beekeeping.

In parallel, Goiás is Brazil’s second‑largest corn producer, with most of the crop destined for poultry and pig feed. Spatial analysis of 2021 data identified strong positive autocorrelation of harvested area, production volume and average yield in municipalities of the Southwest mesoregion, forming a pronounced “high‑high” corn cluster. The study attributes this concentration to abundant land, lower production costs and state subsidies that attract farmers from the South and Southeast, highlighting the region’s strategic role in Brazil’s grain‑based agro‑industrial complex.