The national harvest of cereal, legumes and oilseeds is expected to reach  145.8 million metric tons in 2010, being 8.8% above the harvest obtained in 2009 (134.0 million metric tons) and 0.1% below the record harvest of 2008 (145.9 million metric tons). These figures are presented in the fifth estimate of the Systematic Survey of Agricultural Production (LSPA), of May. The area to be harvested, 46.8 million hectares, presents decrease of 0.9% compared to that of 2009. The three main crops: soybeans, corn and rice, which account for 83.1% of the planted area, changed by +7.2%, -6.7% and -6.1%, respectively, in relation to the previous year. Considering the output of these three products (90.9% of the total amount produced), corn and soybeans recorded increases of 3.7% and 19.6%, respectively, and rice, decrease of 10.8%.

The volume by Major Region expected for 2010 is distributed as follows: South Region, 62.2 million metric tons (+18.7%); Central West, 51.1 million metric tons (+4.6%); Southeast, 16.5 million metric tons (-3.8%); Northeast, 12.1 million metric tons (+3.2%) and North, 3.8 million metric tons (+1.1%). The following figure shows that Paraná has kept its position as the main national producer of grains, surpassing Mato Grosso by 1.8 percentage points.

Estimates of Five products decrease in relation to April

In the LSPA of May, versus April figures, nine products are the main highlights. In terms of negative changes can be mentioned: wheat in grain (-8.2%), total beans in grain (-5.0%), herbaceous seed cotton (-1.2%), rice in husk (-1.2%) and total corn in grain (-0.3%). The positive changes were soybeans in grain (+0.3%), coffee in grain (+1.8), barley in grain (+3.1%) and oats in grain (+24.9%).

Herbaceous cotton (seed)

The estimated production is 3.1 million metric tons, with decrease of 1.2% compared to the LSPA of April. Incomes in the two main producing centers have been reevaluated: Mato Grosso (with 49.2% of the national production) and Bahia (32.9%).

Rice (in husk)

The expected production of Rice is 11.2 million metric tons, 1.2% less than in April. There was reduction of production in states such as Maranhão (-8.4%), Piauí (-28.1%), Ceará (-21.7%) and Bahia (-29.8%),  as a result of the dry period of the northeastern harvest.

Coffee (in grain)

For coffee, the estimated production is 2,745,893 t (45.8 million sacks), with increase of 1.8% compared to April. The area used for the harvest crop is 2,359,124 ha. The increase may be seen as a result of the bigger production in Rondônia (+34.8%), Espírito Santo (+2.3%) and Mato Grosso (+42.1%).

Beans in grain (total)

The production of beans, considering the three harvests is evaluated at 3,328,934 metric tons, 5.0% less than in April. The changes in production were: 1^st harvest beans, -9.0%,  2^nd harvest beans, –2.5%, and 3^rd harvest beans, +4.8%. The decrease faced by 1^st harvest beans, in the LSPA of May, results from the non-occurrence of planting and from losses occurred in the Northeast (Maranhão -10.0%, Piauí -2.1%, Ceará -54.0% and Bahia -10.8%). The same occurs in the case of 2^nd harvest beans, with decreases in Maranhão (-34.7%) and Pernambuco (-61.4%). The only harvest to present positive results, 3^rd harvest beans,  had production increase of 12.6% of the production expected for Minas Gerais.

Corn in grain (total)

The national production of both harvests of corn in grain in 2010 amounted to 53.1 million metric tons, with negative change of  0.3% over April. First harvest corn is expected to reach 33.6 million metric tons (-0.7% in relation to the previous estimate). There was decrease of the results estimated for Maranhão (-11.7%), Piauí (-9.6%), Ceará (-57.1%), Pernambuco (-23.3%), Alagoas (-5.9%) and Bahia (-6.1%). In the 2^nd harvest, production is expected to reach 19.6 million metric tons (0.6% above the figure in  April) due to the reevaluation of planted area (2.0%), since yield has declined 1.4%.

Soybeans in grain

The production of soybeans in 2010 surpasses the April estimate by 0.3%, resulting in 68.1 million metric tons. The increase has occurred mainly due to a positive reevaluation (5.6%) of the northeastern harvest, resulting in increase of 5.0% in production, once income has been facing slight decrease (0.5%).

Winter cereals (in grain)

The winter crops, concentrated in the South of the country, are expected to have increments in oats (24.9%), barley (3.1%) and decreases in wheat (-8.2%). Considering the latter, the most important crop in this period, the expected production was 5.2 million metric tons (-8.2% compared to the figure in April). The decrease results from the first harvest evaluation of Rio Grande do Sul, whose expected production is 7.6% below that in the previous month. Paraná, the major national producer (with 57.5% of the national production), also faced decrease by 4.0%, due to the non-occurrence of expected planting periods.

Compared to 2009, there are bigger estimates for 14 products

Among the 24 products selected, 14 presented positive change compared to figures in 2009: herbaceous seed cotton (+5.3%), oats in grain (+36.5%), potatoes – 1^st harvest (+2.1%), potatoes – 2^nd harvest (+13.2%), coffee in grain (+12.9%), barley in grain (+25.0%), beans in grain – 3^rd harvest (+2.8%), oranges (+3.3%), castor beans in bagasse (+21.7%), cassava (+2.2%), corn in grain – 2^nd harvest (+14.2%), soybeans in grain (+19.6%), wheat in grain (+3.8%) and triticale in grain (+8.2%). The products presenting negative changes are: peanuts in husk – 1st harvest (-7.3%), peanuts in husk 2nd harvest (-12.8%), rice in husk (-10.8%), potatoes – 3rd harvest (-7.6%), cacao nuts (-1.6%), onions (-2.8%), beans in grain – 1^st harvest (-2.1%), beans in grain – 2^nd harvest (-11.8%), corn in grain – 1^st harvest (-1.5%) and sorghum in grain (-8.6%).

Soybean stocks decrease 43.1% between 2008 and 2009

According to the Survey of Stocks for the 2nd semester of 2009, there was decrease of 0.6% in the number of active establishments in the storage system of agricultural units, compared to the 1^st semester. Among the 8,821 active establishments, 42.9% were located in the South, 22.8% in the Southeast, 22.3% in the central West, 8.5% in the Northeast and no 3.5% in the North.

The useful storage capacity increased 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively, in conventional, structural and inflatable warehouses and in silos; it decreased 0.5% in grain and bulk warehouses.

The useful capacity of conventional, structural and inflatable warehouses amounted to 77,316,566 m³, and 70.7% of this amount was found in the Southeast and South regions. The useful capacity of Grain and bulk warehouses amounted to 52,836,201 metric tons. The highlights, in this case, were Central West (49.7% of the capacity), and the South (33.6%). Grain silos presented 45,553,726 metric tons of useful capacity, distributed as follows: 55.1% in the South Region, 26.5% in the Central West and 13.3% in the South, respectively. 

The biggest amounts in stock recorded on December 31, 2009 were those of corn in grain (10,403,324 t), wheat in grain (5,213,255 t), rice in husk (2,590,607 t), soybeans in grain (1,971,886 t) and coffee in grain (1,023,828 t). Compared to the amount in stock on December 31, 2008,there were positive changes in corn (18.6%), rice (22.1%) and coffee (0.9%), and negative ones in wheat (-0.9%) and soybeans (-43.1%).