Meta-Analysis of Scientific Production on Soils in the Municipalities of the Triângulo Mineiro and Alto Paranaíba in the Last 30 Years

The geographical mesoregion of the Triângulo Mineiro and Alto Paranaíba has an economy strongly focused on agribusiness, with grain and sugarcane production levels that put them at the forefront of the economic and political scenario of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. However, scientific production focused on soil diversity in this region has long been undervalued compared to other regions of the state and country where the soils exhibit more diverse and, therefore, more intriguing geological and geomorphological characteristics. This paper aims to evaluate the evolution and spatialization of bibliographic production with the central theme of soils in the Triângulo Mineiro and Alto Paranaíba mesoregion. As such, papers from the last three decades within the municipalities of the studied region were selected from five important journals. The papers from the initial screening were analyzed for the following: the profile of the authors (gender and institutional affiliation); number of authors per paper; methods used; and distribution of these papers across the selected region. The results indicate a concentration of papers in four municipalities and a total lack of publications from another 40. Males heavily dominated scientific production in the analyzed segments. Despite the mesoregion having 11 public higher education institutions, most municipalities' soil research was incipient. Regarding the methods used by researchers, in municipalities where more institutional partnerships were made possible, there was an increase in the number of techniques and methods explored in investigating problems. Although the study area presents relative geological and geomorphological homogeneity that gives a monotonous aspect to the landscape, knowledge of its pedodiversity, and its economic significance for agriculture, justifies the need to resume soil studies in the Triângulo Mineiro and Alto Paranaíba, particularly by exploring methods and municipalities that are still little known.