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Drought Cuts Brazil's Soy and Corn by 20% |
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Written by Benedito Mendonça
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Sunday, 10 July 2005 |
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Brazil's soy and corn are the crops that have been hardest hit by drought this year, reports the National Food Supply Company (Conab).
The soy harvest last year reached 61.4 million tons. This year it is estimated that it will just barely top 50 million tons. That is a drop of over 18%. As for the corn harvest, it will be down over 19%.
In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, where the drought was most severe, the soy harvest is down almost 75%. And the corn harvest is down around 68%.
The other southern states, Santa Catarina and Paraná, along with Mato Grosso do Sul, also had significant losses.
The bright spot in agriculture is summer-harvest rice, which is expected to rise in production by 5.2%.
As for total grain production this year, Conab says it should reach 112.4 million tons, down 5.7% from last year.
ABr
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