PRODUTIVIDADE TOTAL DOS FATORES NA AGRICULTURA GOIANA: UMA ANÁLISE PARA AS CULTURAS DE CANA-DE-AÇÚCAR, MILHO E SOJA

The 1970 decade can be considered the beginning of Brazilian agricultural development and modernization. This process represented a new concept, which aimed to change the technical basis of production and thereby raise productivity standards in the sector. The objective of this study is based on research by a measure of total factor productivity (TFP), the constraints of crop productivity of sugar cane, corn and soybeans developed in the micro regions of Goias state, for the periods 1985, 1995/96 and 2006. Goias is positioned as one of the main national development poles of activities related to the agribusiness. In turn, the selected crops represent the main agenda items of production in the state in terms of acreage and production volume. To estimate the productivity measure the Malmquist index was used. It is estimated with the help of the DEA - Data Envelopment Analysis. The survey results record substantial gains in productivity for the selected crops in the periods of 1985-2006. However, considering two intermediate stages, 1985-1995/96 and 1995/96-2006, it was found in the first higher levels of productivity which were not sustained in the second stage. As conditioning such result it is possible to register the importance of technological progress