MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil total harvest estimate, 164.5 million tons; corn up 29%; soy down 12%

Corn, soy-beans and rice, are the main three crops

Brazil’s harvest of cereals, legumes and oilseeds reached an estimated 164.5 million metric tons in 2012, which is 2.8% above the figure of 2011 (160.1 million metric tons) and 0.7% above the July estimate (163.3 million metric tons).

Thee results are presented in the eighth estimate of the Systematic Survey of Agriculture Production according to the country’s stats office IBGE.

The area harvested in 2012, of 49.5 million hectares, presents increase of 1.6% over the 2011 figure, and increase of 0.2% over that of previous month.

The three main crops, rice, corn and soybeans which, together, make up 91.3% of the output of cereals, legumes and oilseeds, account for 85.1% of the area to be harvested.

Compared with figures of the previous year, rice faced reduction of area by 13.4%, whereas corn and soybeans recorded increase of 11.1% and 3.8%, respectively.

As for production, the estimate for corn has increased by 29.3%, but rice and soybeans face decreases of 14.9% and 12.0%, respectively, compared with 2011.  

Among the areas, the produced volume of cereals, legumes and oilseeds presents the following distribution: Central West, 70.8 million metric tons; South Region, 56.8 million metric tons; Southeast, 19.2 million metric tons; Northeast Region, 13.2 million metric tons; and North Region, 4.5 million metric tons.

In relation to the previous harvest, there were increments in the North (3.0%); Southeast (11.4%) and Central West (26.2%), and decreases in the South (16.2%) and Northeast (9.3%).

Mato Grosso leads Brazil’s production of grains, with a contribution of 24.0%, followed by Paraná, with 18.9%, and Rio Grande do Sul, with 12.0%.  Together, these states represent 55.5% of the country’s total.