Rio de Janeiro – Driven mostly by an increase in of soy, maize and cotton crop areas, total planted area in Brazil in 2011 was 2.8 larger than in 2010, up 4.3% to 68.1 million hectares.
The figures were culled from the 2011 edition of the Municipal Agricultural Production (PAM), Temporary and Permanent Cultures survey. Released this Friday (26th) by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the survey covers 64 cultures in 5,565 municipalities throughout the country.
The survey also shows that agricultural production value stood at R$ 195.6 billion, up 27.1% from the preceding year. According to the IBGE, the growth was generally driven by an increase in agricultural prices, which have been rising since 2010 – due to increased demand and reduced supply in both the domestic and foreign markets.
Products whose values increased the most include soy (34.9%); sugarcane (38.6%); and maize (46.4%).
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum