Brasília – The Gross Value of Production (GVP), which takes into consideration market prices of the 20 great Brazilian crops, ended 2011 at 205,9 billion Brazilian reals (R$ – equivalent to US$ 115.7 billion). The result was 11.9% higher than that in 2010 and the best recorded since 1997, when it started being recorded.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, which disclosed the figures on Thursday (19), the Midwest presented the greatest growth, 30.7%, with special highlight to the state of Mato Grosso.
The coordinator of the study, José Garcia Gasques, of the Strategic Management Coordination at the Ministry, said that the positive result is due to favourable prices for farmers and to the good crop in the period. The crops that contributed most to the record were cotton, coffee, orange, sugarcane, maize, soy and grape.
Apart from the Midwest, the other regions that increased their GVP were the Northeast (17.3%), South (8.3%) and Southeast (7.6%). The North was the only region that presented a reduction in the index, 8.9%.
Despite the forecasted lower crop this year, estimated at 160 million tonnes, with losses due to the drought in the South not having been calculated, the projection by the Strategic Management Advisory shows a GVP of R$ 216.2 billion (US$ 121.4 billion), with growth of 5% over 2011.
The study, which is reviewed monthly, takes into consideration figures disclosed by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE), Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and the National Food Supply Company (Conab).
*Translated by Mark Ament
