São Paulo – A study by the National Food Supply Company (Conab) shows that Brazilian grain production in the 2009/2010 crop should reach 141.7 million tonnes, growth of 5% when compared to the total in the 2008/2009 crop, which reached 135 million tonnes.
According to the Conab, the greater production is due to the recovery of average productivity of crops and to stability of the climate forecasted for the next seeding, to take place up to December in the states of the Centre-South, the largest producer region in the country.
The great highlight to now is the option of producers for soy cultivation, which should result in a crop of 63.6 million tonnes, a record figure for the culture. This result would exceed that obtained in the previous crop by 11.4%. A large part of this increase is due to farmers who planted maize and, with the low grain prices on the market, are migrating to cultivation of the oleaginous plant.
The research shows that Brazilian production of wheat, a grain the country imports a great volume of, should drop 14.3% in the 2009/2010 crop, when compared to the previous crop. The total volume picked should be 5.04 million tonnes.
According to the Conab, the reduction should be mainly due to the excessive rains in the later phase of the crop. The crop has already been concluded in São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Goiás and in the Federal District. In Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul it is just beginning.
To reach this figure, the Conab worked on the research from October 19th to 23rd. The national consumption of wheat is approximately 10.5 million tonnes, which has obliged the country to import over 5 million tonnes a year.
With the drought in Argentina, the main supplier of the grain to Brazil, the government has been seeking other alternatives to boost national production, like the launching of the National Wheat Plan, in April 2008.
The program aims to boost the cultivation, alongside the higher prices of the commodity on the international market, which grew as much as 50% in the previous crop, but dropped in the current one.
The cultivated area, according to the Conab study, should remain stable, varying from 47.44 million to 48.18 million hectares, which may represent from a 0.5% reduction to a 1.1% increase when compared to the previous cycle.
*With information from Agência Brasil. Translated by Mark Ament
