From the Newsroom*
São Paulo – Over the last six years, the Brazilian grain crop grew by 40 million tonnes and should reach 140.8 million tonnes this year. The information was disclosed today (8) by the president at the National Food Supply Company (Conab), Wagner Rossi, as he discussed the survey for the next crop, the 2007/2008 crop.
"We grew by 40 million tonnes during this period, that type of growth had only occurred before in a 10-year period. We are surely going to surpass this record high with new ones. The result was achieved mainly due to maize, which should increase by 700,000 tonnes during the summer crop, and soy, with approximately 400,000 tonnes. It is important to note that Brazilian agriculture is growing steadily, in a self-sustained and ongoing fashion," he stated.
The president at the Conab claimed that Brazilian agriculture is going through a positive phase, in which production is on the rise and there is food available for the population. Demand is expanding, according to Rossi, not only domestically, but in foreign countries as well, such as India, China and Asia.
"We have proven our technical capacity, lots of farmland, but there will only be growth if farmers feel safe about investing and achieving positive results," explained Wagner Rossi.
According to the director for Logistics and Business Management at Conab, Sílvio Porto, maize farmers should be able to export, in this crop, from 10 to 11 million tonnes. In the first crop of the season, the harvest of 39 million tonnes nearly caters to the entire domestic demand, projected at 41.4 million.
Brazilian grain production should total 140.5 million tonnes in 2008, according to an estimate by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE), which was also disclosed today. The Conab survey indicates a crop of 140.8 million tonnes of grain, a record-high volume.
So far, according to the Conab, 131.7 million tonnes were harvested, a volume 6.8% greater than recorded in the same period of the previous crop. Good market prices and a more even distribution of rain are the main factors boosting the 2007/2008 crop.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
