November 28, 2003

Brazil Forecast 2003 Grain Crop To Surge A Record 26%
 

Brazil, the world's second-largest soybean producer, forecast its grain crop will increase 26% to as much as 122.25 million metric tons in 2003, the government statistics agency said.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has made boosting agriculture exports central to efforts to revive growth in South America's biggest economy.

Agriculture Minister Roberto Rodrigues has said next year's crop will increase because farmers cultivated more land and also favorable weather helps to contribute to the increase.

The estimate for the 2003 crop is for the whole country and covers the production of cotton, peanuts, rice, beans, mamona, corn, soybeans, oats, rye, barley, sorghum, wheat and triticale.

The statistics agency added that farmland under cultivation in the country's southeast, south and central-west regions and in the states of Rondonia, Bahia, Maranhao and Piaui will rise 3.1% next year to 36.9 million hectares. The survey excludes most of the country's Amazon region and part of the Northeastern coastal region.

As a result of increased planting, the cotton, soybean and rice harvest and first harvest of peanuts, beans and corn, is expected to rise 3.6% to 99.89 million tons, the agency said.