Brazil's grain crop to fall 6.8 percent this year

Brazil's grain crop this year will fall 6.8 percent on-year to 136 million tonnes, according to a study by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

Total cultivated land in 2009 will reach 47.3 million hectares, up 0.2 percent from last year. Soy area will increase 1.7 percent, but corn area will fall 3.6 percent, the IBGE said.

The southern region will have the largest crop in Brazil, totalling 54.6 million tonnes, down 11 percent from 2008, the IBGE said.

Crop in the Midwestern region will amount to 47.8 million tonnes, down 5.9 percent from last year, while crops in the southeastern region are seen to drop 4.3 percent on-year to 16.8 million tonnes.

In the northeastern region, the crop will increase 4.4 percent to 13 million tonnes, while the northern region will grow one percent to 3.8 million tonnes, the IBGE said.

IBGE added that the barley crop will increase 7.7 percent.