Rio de Janeiro – If weather conditions and prices remain favourable, the Brazilian crop should reach a new record. The statement was made by the manager of Agriculture at the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE), Mauro Andreazzi. The researcher commented on the Systematic Agricultural Production Survey (LSPA, in the Portuguese acronym) for May, disclosed this Wednesday (8th), which forecasts a crop of 161.2 million tonnes for the national crop in 2011, a volume 7.8% higher than in 2010 (149.6 million tonnes), which was an all-time high.
“This already is a record year for grain since the current crop began to be sown, in February, and because the weather conditions are remaining stable, we have been reporting a small increment with each new month. The production volume tends to continue to grow, as long as weather conditions are maintained and the pricing continues to encourage growers.” The LSPA for May showed a 1.6% increase in crop volume compared with the estimate disclosed in April.
The National Supply Company (Conab) also disclosed its survey this Tuesday. The influence of weather and the expansion of planted areas for cotton, beans, soy and rice led the 2010-2011 crop forecast to be revised upward once again, with an expected harvest of 161.5 million tonnes.
In comparison with the 2009-2010 crop, when 149.2 million tonnes of grain were harvested, there was growth of 8.2% (12.2 million tonnes) and, in comparison with the eighth survey, disclosed a month ago, the increase was 1.25%, or roughly 2 million tonnes. The planted area grew by 3.8% (1.82 million hectares) from the previous cycle to the current one, to reach 49.2 million hectares.
The Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, will launch the 2011-2012 Agriculture and Livestock Plan on June 29th, at Palácio do Planalto (the seat of the federal government). The minister of Agriculture, Wagner Rossi, announced the date this Tuesday upon announcing the Conab’s ninth survey of the 2010-2011 grain crop. An increase in credit for entrepreneurial agriculture had been announced previously, from 100 billion reals (US$ 63.1 billion) to 107 billion reals (US$ 67.5 billion).
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
