October 12, 2006

Brazil's Parana state wheat crop losses seen at 46.5 percent

Losses in Brazil's Parana state 2005/06 wheat crop were put at 46.5 percent for a total harvest of 1.2 million tonnes, the state's Secretary of Agriculture said Wednesday (Oct 11).

"We were initially looking at production of 2.2 million tonnes of wheat this year, but dry weather during the winter and then a late season cold snap sadly ruined close to half of this crop," said Paulo Meira, head of the rural economy department at the Secretary of Agriculture in Curitiba, Parana.

Parana is Brazil's no. 1 wheat producer. Wheat growers planted 835,000 hectares of wheat this winter, 30 percent less than they planted in the 2004/05 season. This marks the second consecutive year of crop losses for Parana wheat growers. In 2004/05, Parana farmers lost a third of their crop to drought.

Rio Grande do Sul, the no. 2 producer, lost slightly under a third of its 2005/06 wheat crop because of a late September freeze.

Private estimates now put Brazil's 2005/06 wheat crop under 3 million tonnes compared to an initial estimate of 4.8 million tonnes.

Brazil consumes roughly 10.5 million tonnes of wheat annually and will need to increase imports in 2007 to meet local demand.