Production value in 2009 was R$ 140.8 billion, almost R$ 8.0 billion less (-5.3%) than in 2008. The decrease has occurred mainly due to the smaller production of corn (-13.9%), coffee (-12.8%), herbaceous cotton (-27.3%), wheat (-16.1%) and soybeans (-4.2%). Besides, some products, such as corn, beans, coffee and wheat had lower prices than those in the previous year. Planted area increased 0.3% over the 2008 figure and reached 65.7 million hectares.

 

Soybeans, with 509.6 thousand hectares (2.4%), and sugarcane (572.5 thousand hectares, 7.0% more) recorded the main hikes in 2009. In spite of harvest decline, soybeans remained as the crop accounting for the biggest contribution to production value, with 27% of the total (R$ 38.0 billion).  In second place was   sugarcane, with 17.0% (R$ 24.0 billion). The expansion of crops and the good prices, of sugar, mainly, in the market, led to a 16% increase of sugarcane production value, compared to the figure in 2008. This increase caused sugarcane to surpass corn in the ranking. Due to climatic problems and low prices, the latter lost the 2^nd place in the ranking was had its participation in the total amount produced reduced from 14.0% in 2008 to 10.7% in 2009.

 

Among the products recording increase in 2009, some highlights were beans, with production increase of 0.7% and planted area expansion of 8.4%; Rice in husk, which reached 12.7 million tonnes (+4.9%); and fruits that, together, generated gross revenue  of R$ 17.7 billion, 1.8% more than in 2008.

 

In 2009, São Paulo was the main state in terms of agricultural production, and accounted for 16.3% of the overall national production. It was also the main producer of sugarcane, oranges, peanuts, bananas, lemon and tangerine, among other. Paraná, which had been in 2^nd place in 2008, with 14.8% of the national production value, faced climatic problems in 2009 and fell to the fourth position, with 11.8%, behind Mato Grosso (12.8%) and Rio Grande do Sul (12.7%).

 

The municipality of Sorriso (MT) remained as the main agricultural producer in terms of production value. It is the biggest producer of soybeans and corn, in spite of the 10.4% decrease versus the 2008 figures. these and other relevant data are presented in Municipal Agricultural Production (PAM) 2009, which surveys the 64 main products of temporary and permanent crops of national agriculture.

 

Participation in production value: SP remains in the 1st position; MT moves to the 2nd one and PR falls to 4^th place  

Among the states, São Paulo remained in the 1^st position in terms of national agricultural production value, having changed from 15.6% in 2008 to 16.3% in 2009. Mato Grosso, in the 5^th position in 2008, with 10.8%, recorded increase after its good corn harvest inn 2009 (+4.9%) and average income of 4,920 kg/ha, 15.5% above that of 2008. For this reason, its participation in production increased to 12.8% in 2009, and it reached the 2^nd place, followed by Rio Grande do Sul (12.7%).

 

Paraná fell from the 2nd to the 4th position (from 14.8% to 11.8% of production). Being the main producer of corn (22.1% of the national total), the state harvested -27.7% in 2009 (from 15.6 to 11.3 million metric tones). The performance was affected by climatic problems in planting, which led to decrease of the average yield by 23.1% (from 5,335 kg/ha in 2008 to 4,118 kg/ha in 2009) and led to the loss of 52.5 thousand hectares in planted area. Besides corn, soybeans, a product that places Paraná as second in the ranking, faced decrease of -20.3%, due to the same reasons.

 

Nine of the ten major municipalities in terms of agricultural production are located in the Central West Region

 

Many of the 50 biggest municipalities in terms of agricultural production value faced decline from 2008 to 2009, since corn crops, a very important one to several of them, were seriously affected. Among the 10 major municipalities, seven are located in Mato Grosso and two in Goiás. A highlight is Sorriso (MT), the biggest producer of soybeans and corn, with the highest production value in 2009 (R$ 1.33 billion), in spite of the decrease of -10.4% in relation to 2008. In this municipality, soybeans had an increment of 2.6%, whereas corn fell by -9.5%. Sorriso also produced -58.2% of herbaceous cotton (60.3 thousand metric tons in 2008 versus 25.2 thousand in 2009). That was mainly due to the smaller planted area and to the low prices in the market. São Desidério (BA), the only city in the list that was not located in the Central West, was in 2^nd place, with production value of R$ 1.07 billion and decrease of -18.3% in relation to 2008.

 

Grain production decreases by 11.6 million metric tons from 2008 to 2009

 

About half of the Brazilian agricultural production consists of 15 products, “cereals, legumes and oilseeds”, or “grains”. In order of participation in production value, they are: soybeans, corn, beans, rice, herbaceous cotton, wheat, sorghum, peanuts, barley, castor beans, sunflower seeds, oats, triticale, rye and arboreal cotton. This group produced 133.8 million metric tons in 2009, -11.6 million metric tons compared to the 2008 output. This decrease was mainly observed in corn (-8.27 million metric tons), soybeans (-2.49 million metric tons), herbaceous cotton (-1.09 million metric tons) and wheat (-972 thousand metric tons). The main reasons accounting for these results were the climate (which reduced productivity) and, in case of corn, the low prices paid to producers at the time of planting, what led to decrease of planted area. 

 

Lack of rain damages soybean crops and production falls by -4.2% in 2009

 

The national production of soybeans in 2009, which made up 42.8% of the national grain production, was 57.3 million metric tons, -4.2% versus the amount produced in 2008. The main reason accounting for the dry period was the climate: droughts in the South Region, delay of the rainy season in the Central West and irregular distribution of rain in the Northeast. Harvested area, of 21.75 million hectares, increased 2.4%. Production value was R$ 37.99 billion, with average of R$ 662.44/metric ton (1.33% compared to 2008). Mato Grosso remained as the leader in soybean production, with 17.96 million metric tons; the main highlights were Sorriso (1.84 million), Sapezal (1.11 million) and Nova Mutum (1.05 million).

 

In the South Region, the second major producing area, the severe drought, mainly in November and December, caused decrease of -9.8% in production. Paraná was the most affected state (-20.3%).

 

Sugarcane has record production despite lower increase rate

 

Sugarcane broke one more record in 2009, with 671.4 million metric tons and increase of 4.0% compared to the figure in 2008. There was also increase of harvested area (4.6%), which reached 8.5 million hectares. Average yield changed little in relation to the previous harvest and was 78,854 kg/ha. Despite being significant, production increase was lower than in 2008, 17.4% compared to the figure in 2007. The reasons for deceleration were: the world financial crisis, which led to the reduction of new plants; reduced expansion of sugarcane cropping in the last four years; and the excess of rain in the 2^nd semester of 2009, what led to delay in harvesting and kept sugarcane in the field for the following harvest.

 

In the last few years, sugarcane output has been often applied in ethanol production. However, with the recent change of India from an exporter to an importer of sugar, Brazilian sugar has become more  valuable in the world market. As a consequence of this change, and considering the better price of ethanol, production value was almost R$ 24 billion, 16.0% above the figure in 2008.

 

São Paulo, the major national producer, held 57.9% of production (388.9 million metric tons), 0.7% more than in 2008. Even so, production was damaged by the climate: Morro Agudo, the major national producer, faced decrease of 22.6% over 2008.

 

In Minas Gerais, the production of sugarcane reached 58.4 million metric tons (21.8% more than in 2008). This state surpassed Paraná and became the 2^nd major national producer, with 8.7% of the Brazilian harvest. However, some areas have been negatively affected by the excess of rain: Uberaba, the main producer in Minas Gerais, faced decrease of -22.7% in relation to 2008. In spite of having faced the excess of rain, Paraná had a harvest 5.0 % above that in the previous year, 53.8 million metric tons. The expansion of sugarcane crops was biggest in the Central West, due to better land prices. Goiás, the biggest regional producer, recorded increase of 29.8% (43.0 million metric tons, 515.6 thousand hectares). In Mato Grosso do Sul, the output was 25.2 million metric tons, 18.1% more than in 2008. Rio Brilhante (MS) is the second major producing municipality in the country, with 6.3 million metric tons and productivity of 94 t/ha. In the Northeast, a traditional sugar producer, the main states were Alagoas (with 26.8 million metric tons, -8.3%) and Pernambuco (with 19.4 million, -4.5%).

 

Decrease of planting, big stocks, low costs, crisis and climate reduce corn harvest

 

Together, 1^st and 2^nd corn harvests reached 50.7 million metric tons in 2009, with decrease of 13.9% compared to the result in 2008. Corn recorded the 2^nd biggest production volume at national level in 2009 (37.8%), after soybeans (42.8%).

 

The decrease of 1^st harvest corn by 6.2 million metric tons (-15.7%) and of 2^nd harvest corn by 2.0 million metric tons (-10.7%) can be partially explained by the lack of incentive to planting, big national stocks and the low costs of this product. These reasons and also unfavorable climate conditions have contributed to the decrease of 9.0% in income, from 4,079 kg/ha in 2008 to 3,714 kg/ha. The average price, R$ 17.79/60kg sack in 2009, was 15.8% lower than in 2008. All these factors have led to decrease of 5.5% of harvested area (from 14.4 million hectares in 2008 to 13.6 million hectares). The South Region was the one most affected by drought.

 

Paraná, the major national producer in 2009 (22.2%), had 2.7 million hectares of harvested area, 5.4% less than in 2008. Production decreased 27.7% (11.3 million metric tons in 2009). The decrease of average income by 22.8% (4,118 kg/ha) was caused by climatic problems in the planting phase of both harvests. Planted area decreased by 52.4 thousand hectares. None of the municipalities in Paraná was among the first 20 in the ranking: most of them were located in Mato Grosso and Goiás – highlights were Sorriso (903 thousand metric tons), Lucas do Rio Verde (809 thousand metric tons), Campo Novo do Parecis (576 thousand metric tons) and Sapezal (571 thousand metric tons) all of them located in MT.

 

In a low-production year, coffee production decreases by 12.8%

 

In 2009 Brazil harvested 2.4 million metric tons of coffee (40.7 million 60-kg sacks), versus 2.8 million metric tons in 2008 (-12.8%). Harvested area closed the year at 2.2 million hectares. The average yield of 1,118 kg/ha was 12.0% lower than in 2008. This decrease, most pronounced in the species called Coffea arabica (predominant in Brazil), had been expected, because coffee crops alternate between high and low-production years. The highlights among the 17 producing states were Minas Gerais (49.0%), Espírito Santo (25.4%), São Paulo (8.1%), Bahia (7.2%), Paraná (3.7%) and Rondônia (3.8%).

 

In Minas, with 616 of the 1768 producing municipalities, the 2009 harvest – considering both coffee species amounted to1.2 million hectares (19.9 million sacks), 15.6% less than in 2008. Harvested area was 1.0 million hectares, with average income of 1,182 kg/ha, versus 1,331 kg/ha in 2008 (-11.2%).

 

In the state of Espírito Santo there is a predominance of the Coffea canephora species. For that reason, differently from other states, there was slight increase of production between 2008 and 2009, by 0.2%. In 2009 the harvested area was 489 thousand hectares; total production reached 619.7 thousand metric tons (10.3 million sacks) and average yield, for both species, ended the year at 1,265 kg/ha.

 

RS, main rice producer, records harvest 8.7% bigger in 2009

 

The national production of rice in husk in 2009 was 12.65 million metric tons, 4.9% bigger than in 2008. A total 2.87 million hectares were harvested, with average income of 4,405 kg/ha, production value of R$ 7.07 billion and average value of R$ 558.92/metric ton (-3.7% compared to 2008). It is worth to highlight the performance of Rio Grande do Sul, where there is a predominance of irrigated cropping: it was the biggest national producer (63.1%), with a harvest of 7.98 million metric tons (+8.7% compared to 2008), harvested area of 1.1 million hectares (+4.2%) and average yield of 7,187 kg/ha (+4.3%). Good climate conditions contributed to the positive results.  All the 20 main rice-producing municipalities are located in Rio Grande do Sul. The first five ones (Uruguaiana, Itaqui, Santa Vitória do Palmar, Alegrete and Dom Pedrito) amounted to 19.0% of the national production and 30.1% of the state production.

 

Production of cassava faces decrease of 8.6%; average yield increases by 8.7%

 

The production of cassava, 24.4 million metric tons, decreased by -8.6% in relation to 2008. Harvested area decreased from 1.89 million hectares in 2008 to 1.76 million in 2009 (-6.8%); the average yield was 13,861 kg/ha (-2.0%) and the average price, R$ 228.46/metric ton (-8.7%). The Northeast had the biggest harvested area (811 thousand hectares) and production (8.18 million metric tons). Three states held 47.7% of production: Pará (18.6%, 4.5 million metric tons), Paraná (15.0%, 3.6 million metric tons) and Bahia (14.1%, 3.4 million metric tons). Nine of the 20 main producing municipalities are located in Pará; the highlight is Acará (592 thousand metric tons).

 

Production of beans grows 0.7%; MT and GO have biggest increases

 

Considering the three bean harvests together in 2009, national production amounted to 3.49 million metric tons, 0.7% above the figure in 2008. The weak performance of this product in 2009 occurred mainly due to the unfavorable climate in important producing centers. Harvested area was 4.1 million hectares, 8.4% more than in 2008. Area increased due to the good prices in the implementation of 1^st and 2^nd harvests and measures aimed at the incentive to planning.

 

Together, the six main producing states (PR, MG, BA, SP, GO and MT) accounted for about 71.0% of the overall amount produced in 2009. Paraná remained as the main producer, with 22.6% of the national total (787 thousand metric tons, +2.1% versus 2008). Minas Gerais remained in the second position, with 602 thousand metric tons (+3.1%). Goiás (5^th) and Mato Grosso (6^th) had the biggest relative gains in production (18.8% and 72.4%).

 

Production in the 20 main producing municipalities was 773.7 thousand metric tons, 23.5% of the national production. The highlight was Unaí (MG), with 123.6 thousand metric tons, Cristalina (GO), with 64.8 thousand metric tons and Castro (PR), with 56.4 thousand metric tons.

 

Amount of herbaceous cotton produced in São Desidério (BA) surpasses that of MS, GO and MG together

 

The production of herbaceous cotton in 2009 amounted to 2.9 million metric tons, 27.3% less than in the previous year. The main factors accounting for this decrease were: the world financial crisis in the period prior to planting that led to the decrease of planting areas; production costs above those of other crops that could use the same area; and, mainly, the risk of low prices at the moment of commercialization.

 

Mato Grosso, the main producing state, which concentrates 13 of the main producing municipalities, harvested 1.4 million metric tons (-32.0% versus the figure in 2008). In 2^nd place, Bahia produced 917 thousand metric tons (-21.5% compared to 2008). The excess of rain caused the average yield to decrease of -15.9%. The municipality of São Desidério, the main producer in the country, was the only one among the main 20 producing municipalities to increase harvested area. Its contribution to the national harvest was 485 thousand metric tons (16.8%), so that this municipality surpassed the added percent participations of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul and Minas Gerais – respectively, 7.8%, 5.0% and 1.9% of the national harvest.

 

South leads wheat production, but income in GO and MG is significantly higher than the national average

 

Wheat output was 5.06 million metric tons (-16.1% compared to the figure in 2008), mainly due to the rain in the end of the cycle, which reduced the quantity and quality of products, and made part of them useless for bakery purposes. The area directed to crops had little increase (2.44 million hectares, versus 2.39 million in 2008), especially in Paraná, a state that held 49.1% of national production.

 

The South Region accounted for 92.3% of the national production of wheat. There has been, however, significant increase in the scrubland area, especially in Minas and Goiás, where irrigated crops led to good average yield: 4,412 kg/ha and 3,764 kg/ha, respectively, versus 2,080 kg/ha in the country. In the municipalities of Rio Verde (GO), Montividiu (GO) and Varjão de Minas (MG), average yield reached 6,000 kg/ha.

 

Production value of fruticulture increases by 1.8% in 2009

 

Fruit production analyzed by PAM gathers 22 species, which, collectively, covered 2.91 million hectares harvested in 2009, having generated gross revenue of R$ 17.7 billion, +1.8% more than in 2008. This figure represented 12.6% of the total production value for the 64 items surveyed. Although oranges and bananas (with the main contributions to the overall cost of fruits, 26.4% and 17.8%, respectively), had decreased in terms of production value (oranges: -7.9%; bananas: -0.2%),other products had major rises: nuts (43.9%), passion fruit (39.4%), papaya (32.0%), lemon (18.7%), watermelon (17.5%), persimmon (14.9%) and melon (4.6%). Besides oranges and bananas, there was also significant decrease in the production value of mango (-21,3%), peach (-7,3%), cashew nuts (-7.5%), coconut (-5.5%) and pear (-4.7%).

 

The orange harvest in 2009, 17.6 million metric tons (431.8 million boxes), fell by -5.0% compared to that in 2008. Harvested area was 787 thousand hectares (-5.9%). São Paulo, which accounts for 77.4% of the national production, also processes oranges and sells this fruit juice. It produced 6.2% less than in 2008: 13.6 million metric tons, that is, 334.4 million boxes. This type of crop has been moving to the southern part of the state, for several reasons: expansion of sugarcane, lower prices in southern land, problems with pests and diseases. In Minas, the production of 749.9 thousand metric tons recorded its biggest increase over 2008 (22.1%), even considering the decrease of harvested area. Paraná (3.0% of the national production) has increased with the use of technology and average yield (26,000 kg/ha) above the figure in other states, including São Paulo.

 

The banana harvest totaled 6.78 million metric tons in 2009, 3.1% less than in 2008. The harvested area was 479.6 thousand hectares, with average yield 14,144 kg/ha. The six main producing states (SP, BA, SC, MG, PA and PE) accounted for 65.7% of production. São Paulo, with increase of 2.6%, amounted to 1.26 million metric tons (18,5% do total) and was once more the main national producer of this fruit, surpassing Bahia, the production of which decreased 28.4% (1.02 million metric tons, 15.0% of the national production). Cajati (SP) produced 216 thousand metric tons (+63.0% over 2008) and was the main producing municipality, surpassing Miracatu (SP), which harvested 145.2 thousand (-8.3%). Bahia had the highest production value (R$ 597.4 million, average costs of R$ 588.33/metric ton), followed by São Paulo (R$ 454.7 million, average of R$ 361.60/metric tons). The national average was R$ 465.84/metric tons, 2.9% over 2008.

 

A total 1.37 million metric tons of grapes were harvested in 2009 (-3.9% in relation to 2008); that interrupted an upward trend that had been occurring since 2006. National production value was R$ 1.6 billion (average price of R$ 1,180.56/metric ton). Harvested area was 73.5 thousand hectares, with average yield of 18,573 kg/ha. Rio Grande do Sul, which harvested 737.4 thousand metric tons (54.0% of the national production in 2009), faced decrease of 5.1%. In second place was São Paulo, with 185.1 thousand metric tons (13.6% of the total) and, in the third position, Pernambuco, a state which recorded the highest average yield (26.406 kg/ha). The four biggest producing municipalities – Petrolina (PE), Bento Gonçalves (RS), Flores da Cunha (RS) and Caxias do Sul (RS) – accounted for 27.1% of the national production of grapes. Petrolina recovered leadership it had lost to Bento Gonçalves in 2008, after reaching an output of  106.4 million metric tons versus 100.3 thousand metric tons of the latter.