Fall of 0.20% in relation to March is expected. Planted area decreases by 2.77% over 2005, reaching a figure of 46,251 million hectares. The products facing the major reduction in terms of planted area were: castor beans (-34.50%), herbaceous cotton (-28.01%), rice (-22.60%) and wheat (-13.16%).

In April, according to the Systematic Survey of Agricultural Production, the national production of cereals, legumes and oilseeds (seed cotton, peanuts, rice, beans, castor beans corn, soybeans, oats, rye, barley, sunflower seeds, sorghum and triticale) will be about 121,723 million tons, in 2006. This estimate is 0.20% below the March figure (121,970 million tons), and 8.13% above the result for 2005 (112,574 million tons).

Due to the good prices that have been in effect since the last few months of 2005, the production of 1^st and 2^nd harvest beans increased, by 12.48% and 30.74%, respectively. The production of corn, considering both the 1s and the 2^nd harvests, expanded 18.39% and 24.40%, respectively. In terms of soybeans there was increase as well, of 8.42%. The highlights this month are soybeans and 1^st harvest corn, whose crops are recovered after the severe dry period of the last season, mainly observed in the South and Central West Regions.

Summer crops have been almost completely harvested with only some remaining unharvested areas (where planting started later). As other winter crops, wheat fell by 3.16% due its low price in  the last few harvests. Because of the agricultural calendar, the planting period is not yet finished in Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul and Goiás.Therefore, the previously released estimates for these states are still in effect. In Paraná, the main producer in the country (with 55.50% of the national production of wheat), there was decline of 9.53%. 

The production of cereals, legumes and oilseeds is distributed as follows: South Region, 51,151 million tons; Central West Region, 40,575 million tons; Southeast Region, 16,143 million tons., Northeast Region, 10,192 million tons and North Region, 3,662 million tons.

In April, the production of fourteen items increased in relation to 2005 results

In April, the fourth Systematic Survey of Agricultural Production – LSPA for 2006 showed that 14 products had  positive change in relation to the previous year: oats in grain (8.74%), 2nd harvest potatoes (12.00%), coffee in grain (18.18%), sugar cane (5.20%), onions (3.29%), barley in grain (10.82%), 1^st harvest beans (12.48%), 2^nd harvest beans (30.74%), oranges (1.73%), cassava (7.42%), 1^st harvest grain corn (18.93%), 2^nd harvest grain corn (24.40%), soybeans in grain (8.42%) and triticale (10.84%). There were falls of the crops of herbaceous seed cotton (-22.46%), 1st harvest peanuts in husk (-10.24%), 2nd harvest peanuts in husk (-11.70%), rice in husk (-15.77%), 1^st harvest potatoes (-8.02%), 3^rd harvest potatoes (-11.77%), cacao beans (-0.46%), 3^rd harvest beans (-10.16%), castor beans (-32.29%) and wheat in grain (-3.16%).

Comparison between March and April estimates

In the April edition of LSPA, the highlights in relation to March are: 2^nd harvest beans (13.40%), castor beans (-2.45%), 2^nd harvest grain corn (2.66%) and wheat (-8.25%). The expected production of 2^nd harvest beans increased by 13.40% in relation to April, due to the good prices of the first harvest and also to the favorable weather conditions.

As in the previous months, castor beans remain falling: in April, there was reduction of 2.45%. Result for Ceará (-4.12%) and Minas Gerais (-37.38%), changed due to due to the dry period, account for these falls. The survey of April also points to increase of the production of 2^nd harvest corn, with the most effective evaluations taking place after the planting period, especially in Bahia (78.07%), Minas Gerais (41.17%) and Goiás (12.87%).

Concerning wheat, the first evaluations of the Management Groups of Agricultural Statistics (GCEA), show fall of the estimated production (8.25%).