Agriculture
Estimates indicate 2019 will have second biggest grain harvest in current time series
December 11, 2018 09h00 AM | Last Updated: December 11, 2018 05h14 PM
The second estimate for the national harvest of cereals, legumes and oilseeds in 2019 indicates an increase of 1.7% against the 2018 output. As a result, the amount harvested next year is expected to be the second biggest in the time series initiated in 1975. In absolute figures, output is expected to reach 231.1 million metric tons. The record harvest is still that of 2017, 240.6 million metric tons.
That increase was maily due to expected increases of 9.3% in corn- 2nd crop and of 5.5% in upland cottonseed. These data come from the Systematic Survey of Agricultural Production (LSPA), released today by the IBGE.
The survey manager, Carlos Antônio Barradas, highlights that, in 2018, important states in terms of corn production have faced difficulties related to climate conditions. “For 2019, we expect a bigger planting window for corn, since in a big part of these states the rainy seasons has already started , nd that makes it possible to start planting beforehand. Regarding cotton, good prices must benefit investments in crops and lead to the increase of planted area”.
Soybean, rice and the first corn and bean crops may face decreases of, respectively, 0.2%, 4.5%, 0.6% and 8% in relation to 2018. Among the five main types of grain surveyed, decrese of planted area is expected in the case of rice, with -4.6%, and of the first bean crop, with -1%.
2018 harvest is expected to be 5.5% smaller than that of last year
As for the output in 2018, the national harvest was estimated at 227.3 million metric tons, 5.5% below that of 2017. Among the main products, there were decreases of 17.8% in corn crops and of 5.6% in rice crops, whereas those of soybean recorded an increase of 2.6%.
The total aares to be harvested is estimated at 60.9 million hectares, a decrease of 0.5% against the figure in 2017.
