Rio de Janeiro – The Brazilian grain crop should total 145.8 million tonnes this year, representing growth of 8.8% over the 134 million tonnes harvested in 2009 and a 1% decline over the record-breaking 2008 crop, of 145.9 million tonnes. The estimate is included in the Systematic Study on Agricultural Production for May, disclosed on Tuesday (8) by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
The area to be picked, 46.8 million hectares, dropped 0.9% as against 2009. The three main cultures: soy, maize and rice, which answer to 83.1% of the cultivated area, present variation of 7.2%, -6.7% and -6.1%, respectively, as against the previous year. Regarding production, maize and soy registered growth of 3.7% and 19.6%, respectively, and rice, retraction of 10.8%.
The agricultural crop expected for 2010 has the following regional distribution: South, 62.2 million tonnes (18.7%), Midwest, 51.1 million tonnes (4.6%), Southeast, 16.5 million tonnes (-3.8%), Northeast, 12.1 million tonnes (3.2%) and North, 3.8 million tonnes (1.1%). The study by the state of Paraná is still the main producer of grain, exceeding Mato Grosso by 1.8 percentage point.
In the study for agricultural production in May variations in the estimate were prominent, as against April, considering mainly nine products. Negative oscillations were identified in wheat (-8.2%), beans (-5.0%), cotton seed (-1.2%), rice with the husk (-1.2%) and whole maize (-0.3%). Positive growth was identified in soy in grain (0.3%), coffee in grain (1.8), barley in grain (3.1%) and oats (24.9%).
The winter crops, concentrated in the south of the country, should present expansion in oats (24.9%), barley (3.1%) and reduction in wheat (-8.2%). For wheat, the most important culture for the period, the expected reduction is 5.2 million tonnes.
*Translated by Mark Ament
