Brazil Grain Crop to Increase Almost 22 Percent in 2017

By Jay Forte, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian grain crop is expected to grow 21.8 percent in 2017, according to a February estimate released today (March 9th) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

The report listed 224.2 million tons of grains, vegetables and oilseeds are to be harvested, 93 percent of which is soybeans, corn and rice.

The production estimate for 2017, calculated in February, varied positively by 1.3 percent in relation to January, which already indicated growth.

The main grain of Brazilian agribusiness, soybeans should total a harvest of 108.4 million tons, up 13.2 percent over 2016. The harvested area is expected to increase by 2.1 percent.

According to IBGE, rice production has been benefited by climatic conditions in the main producing states. The rice harvest is expected to grow by 11.1 percent compared to 2016 and the harvested area has an expected expansion of two percent. The total foreseen production is 11.7 million tons.

Corn is expected to show the highest growth in production (39.6 percent), with an area harvested 11.1 percent higher. The 88.4 million tons will be divided in two harvests and this year is predicted a higher productivity of the South Region in the first harvest and an increase in the participation of the Midwest in the second harvest.

Of the 26 products surveyed by IBGE, sixteen are expected to have crop growth and ten will have smaller harvests. Among the other productions that will increase are castor bean, cocoa, onion and cotton. Among those that decrease are sugarcane, barley, manioc and wheat.

The IBGE reported that the area harvested should also increase and exceed 2016 by 5.7 percent, totaling 60.3 million hectares. Also in this data, the February estimate surpasses that of January by 0.8 percent.

Brazilian production is expected to be 42.4 percent from the Midwest region of Brazil, and 36.4 percent from the South. The Southeast should produce 9.6 percent of the crop, followed by the Northeast with eight percent and the North with 3.6 percent.

The states of Mato Grosso (24.3 percent), Paraná (18.7 percent) and Rio Grande do Sul (14.8 percent) are expected to reap the largest portions of the national production.