Brazil harvested the largest production in history
Gazeta Mercantil 01/09/2008
The agricultural producers may have "the greatest harvest in history" in the 2007/2008 grain harvest, with an increase of 3.1% in relation to the previous one, amounting to 135.8 million tons. The past harvest had already been record, surpassing the 2002/03 season, when the Country produced 123.6 million tons. The figures, released by the National Food Supply Company (Conab) and by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) yesterday, are 0.8% higher than those from last December. However, when compared with IBGE's data from November, they are smaller: at that time, the expectation was 137 million tons. According to Neuton Rocha, manager of the Systematic Survey of the Agricultural Production of the IBGE, the revision downwards results from a new evaluation for Rio Grande do Sul. "The state may have the production of soy and corn reduced, due to the La Niña natural phenomenon, which may cause draught between January and February", said Rocha. The minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Reinhold Stephanes, said that the maintenance of the scenario depends on the weather conditions of the next weeks, since some crops are in the flowering and fructification period, and demands rain. According to him, almost all products maintain good performances, especially corn, soy, and cotton, but the offer of beans will be 2.1% smaller. Stephanes pointed out that in spite of the increase in the production, the farmers will commercialize their products, because "there is excessive demand for foods in the world, mainly in the Asian countries". According to estimates of the government, soy still leads in grains, with an estimate production of 58.2 million tons, followed by the perspective of 53.4 million tons of corn and 11.9 million tons of rice. In percentage terms, the greatest increase in relation to the past harvest will be on the wheat crop, which may increase from 2.2 million to 3.8 million tons, with a growth of 71.5%.