The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) will begin, in May, the second pilot test of the 12th Census of Agriculture, Forestry and Aquaculture, another preparatory and testing round to ensure the quality and scope of the survey that will be carried out throughout the country. Six cities, from four Major Regions of the country, will host the teams.

The press conference  will occur on May 8 2026, at 09 am, virtually and in-person at the Casa Brasil IBGE, in Rio de Janeiro, as part of the dissemination and preparation phases of the census operation.

The program includes an opening with the participation of the president of the IBGE, Marcio Pochmann, the director of Surveys, Gustavo Junger da Silva, and the general coordinator of Census Operations, Fernando Damasco, followed by the presentation of the technical and operational project of the second pilot test, conducted by Vando da Paz Nascimento, coordinator of Agricultural Statistics, by the technical manager of the Census of Agriculture, Juliana Souza de Queiroz, and by Marta Antunes, manager of Traditional Peoples and Communities and Specific Population Groups.

The operation will take place between May 11 and 22, 2026 in Barcarena (PA), Uruçuí (PI), Rio Verde (GO), Corumbá (MS), Irati (PR), and Viamão (RS), cities chosen for this testing round. In the first test, held in December, the chosen cities were from Bahia (Juazeiro and Sobradinho), Maranhão (Bacabal), Minas Gerais (Alfenas and Grão Mogol), and Rio de Janeiro (Nova Friburgo). Thus, representatives from all Major Regions of the country will have participated in the tests.

In addition to validating traditional methodologies, the pilot test brings a historic innovation: the inclusion of the productive agri-food systems of traditional peoples and communities. For the first time, these groups will be portrayed in detail, guaranteeing their representativeness in the national statistical survey.

The IBGE prepared materials that will be distributed to the teams, such as pamphlets, posters, fans, car stickers, and memo sheets, in addition to artwork for visual dissemination. In March, the institute will hold workshops on the census in the six cities that will host the pilot test.

Selected Municipalities

Located in the Metropolitan Area of Belém, Barcarena (PA) was chosen because it presented, in the last Census of Agriculture, Forestry and Aquaculture, a high diversity of activities carried out. Permanent açaí cultivation is predominant in the municipality, but livestock farming and the wild-crop harvesting of Brazil nuts, bacuri, and bacaba are also found in Barcarena, which will allow for collection tests in different production modalities.

In Piauí, the choice of Uruçuí was motivated by the agricultural expansion registered in the municipality in the Southwest of Piauí. In addition, the complexity of the production logistics was taken into account in the city's selection.

One of the largest municipalities in Goiás, the city of Rio Verde will represent the Cerrado biome in the 2nd Pilot Test. The census team took into consideration the fact that the municipality has a highly mechanized agribusiness sector, with large establishments and mechanized agro-industrial chains, large-scale production, intensive use of technology, inputs, machinery, and equipment. Aspects related to the business management of agricultural establishments were also considered.

Representative of the Pantanal region, Corumbá (MS) was also chosen for its large establishments, but with a predominance of livestock farming. The seasonality of floods in the Pantanal, an environmentally sensitive area, makes productivity in the region variable, which was also taken into account in the selection.

The presence of traditional peoples and communities in Irati led to the selection of the Paraná municipality for the second pilot test. The Faxinalenses, traditional communities that have a differentiated agro-productive system, are a highlight in the region.

Finally, Viamão (RS), in the Metropolitan Area of Porto Alegre, another municipality with a presence of traditional communities, was chosen for its peri-urban character and the presence of family farming and fragmented establishments, with emphasis on irrigated rice production. The idea is to test, in the city representing the Pampa region, the identification of agricultural establishments in areas under urban pressure, in addition to concepts of territorial boundaries, land use and pluriactivity, and the impacts of losses due to climatic reasons.

The data collection phase of the 12th Census of Agriculture is scheduled for March to September 2027. However, prior to this, other preparatory steps will be implemented, such as the experimental census in November 2026 and cadastral updates for data collection between October of this year and February 2027.

With the motto "Together we will harvest the largest data crop in Brazil," the 12th Census of Agriculture, Forestry and Aquaculture is expected to visit approximately 5 million agricultural establishments in the country's 5,571 municipalities, generate approximately 35,000 temporary jobs, and update the detailed picture of essential activities that produce food, wealth, work, and income.

The pilot tests – the first of which took place on January 1, 2025 – serve to test and improve the data collection instruments, operational procedures, and logistical capacity in different agricultural contexts, ensuring greater accuracy and efficiency in the execution of the Census. See images below.

Workshop for communicators

The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) held this Tuesday (5) the workshop “12th Census of Agriculture, Forestry and Aquaculture: Communication, Mobilization and Information Quality". The activity was aimed at preparing communicators for the coverage and dissemination of information from the survey.
The workshop was conducted by specialists from the Institute's technical team, at Casa Brasil IBGE, in Rio de Janeiro, and broadcast live online.

Learn more about the Census of Agriculture, Forestry and Aquaculture on the survey's official page.

Service: Open press conference: dissemination of the actions for the 2nd pilot test of the 12th Census of Agriculturel, Forestry and Aquaculture 

Date: May 8, 2026
Time: 9 am (Brasilia time)
Venue: Casa Brasil IBGE - Rio de Janeiro

Streaming: YouTube, Instagram, Tik Tok and Facebook