Weather has contributed to good results of Brazil's 2018/2019 harvest
Staff Writer |
Agriculture, one of the Brazilian economy’s main drivers, is expected to see a 4.5% growth in the 2018/2019 harvest compared to the previous period. A forecast by the National Supply Company (Conab) released on 8 November, points to a harvest of 238.3 million tons of grain.
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According to Conab's assessment, the weather has been favourable, especially for soy and maize crops. More than 80% of the soy has already been planted in the state of Mato Grosso, for instance.
In 2017, at this same time of the year, that rate was much lower, at 40.5%. The soybean harvest is currently projected to yield from 116.7 to 119.3 million tons of grain.
For maize, projections are also positive: harvest is expected to stay between 90 and 91 million tons.
Next on the list of high-yield crops are cotton, with 2.3 million tons; rice, which may reach 11.8 million tons; beans, expected to yield 3.17 million tons; and wheat, which can reach as high as 5.5 million tons. "We are apparently looking at an extraordinary harvest for the third consecutive year in Brazil," said Sávio Pereira, acting Secretary of Agricultural Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply.
As a result of the bump harvest, gross revenue for Brazil's cotton, rice, beans, corn and soybean farmers is expected to reach R$ 228.2 billion.
If confirmed, the figure will be 37.3% greater than that of the previous harvest, when revenue stood at R$ 166.23 billion. Conab explained that this increase was influenced by increased output and increases in the average prices of some products.
In addition to Conab, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) has also released its own crop survey, but since the two bodies have different methodologies, the numbers are only approximate. According to IBGE, the harvest is expected to yield 227.2 million tons of grain. ■