October 7, 2005

Brazil's Parana expects fall in soybean area for 2005-06

Brazil's southern state of Parana was expected to see a fall in its 2005-06 soybean area to 3.99 million hectares, down 2.8 percent from the previous harvest, local authorities said.

However, Parana's 2005-06 corn area was expected to rise 7.3 percent year-on-year to 1.37 million hectares.                             

An agronomist in Parana said planted area for soybeans was not reduced further despite dismal local soybean prices, as corn prices there were also disappointing.

However, the state's soybean output was still expected to rise significantly in 2005-06, to between 11.5 million and 12.67 million tonnes. This compared with 9.47 million tonnes produced during 2004-05 during which the drought affected output.

Parana's 2005-06 corn output was also expected to rise from 6.48 million tonnes the previous year, to between 7.8 million and 8.55 million tonnes.                            

Parana is currently the second largest soybean-producing state in Brazil, after Mato Grosso state.