Agricultural production
IBGE: In July, estimated harvest increase for 2020 is 3.8%
August 11, 2020 09h00 AM | Last Updated: August 11, 2020 12h10 PM
The national harvest of grain is expected to reach 250.5 million metric tons and hit a new record in 2020, according to the July estimates of the Systematic Survey of Agricultural Production (LSPA), released today (11) by the IBGE. That represents an increase of 3.8% against the 2019 harvest, with more than 9.0 million metric tons.
Soybean is expected to have a record increase of 5.9%, which corresponds to 120.1 million metric tons. “The production of that legume could have been bito the output in Rio Grande do Sul, which fell by 7.3 million metric tons against the figure of last year, due to a prolonged drought. The production of soybean in Rio Grande do Sul was estimated at 11.2 million metric tons”, said the IBGE's Agriculture analyst, Carlos Antônio Barradas.
The production of corn is another highlight. Although smaller that in last year, it is expected to reach 99.8 million metric tons in 2020. “Domestic and foreign demands have kept corn prices at high levels, encouraging more investments in corn crops, mainly in Paraná and in the Central West,” the analyst says.
Barradas also mentions that wheat, the estimate of which is 41.0% bigger, with an output of 7.4 million metric tons. He says that, due to the losses resulting from droughts in some areas, the situation in some areas may have influenced producers to increase investments in winter crops, as a way to make up for damages.
“with the dollar appreciation, there was a rise of wheat prices in the domestic market, resulting in better prospects for the profitability of this product. Motivated by this favorable scenario, producers expanded planting areas, as well as investments in production technology,” Mr. Barrada explains.
In the monthly comparison, the change of 1.3% in the grain harvest was due to 2nd crop corn (2.2 million metric tons), wheat (416.7 thousand metric tons), soybean (231.3 thousand metric tons), rice (196.0 thousand metric tons), oats (70.5 thousand metric tons) and 3rd crop corn (48.5 thousand metric tons).
Central West is expected to harvest 118 million metric tons
Accoding to the IBGE, increase in the grain output is expected in almost all the Major Regions in the country. In the Central West, the main producer may increase by 5.8%, amounting to 118.0 million metric tons. Other increases are expected for the Northeast (13.9%), North (9.6%) and Southeast (7.9%). In the second main producer, harvest is expected to decrease by 3.8% (74.3 million metric tons).
