Soy becomes love of Brazilian farmers

More Brazilian farmers are turning to soy cultivation, which will boost production and become the country's main driver of growth.

Soy production is expected to increase 5.47 million tonnes over the 2008-09 harvest.

Many farmers chose to plant soy instead of corn because of its lower production costs and higher drought resistance. If the farmed area is maintained and weather conditions are favourable in main farming areas, the harvest of the soy crop may increase 12.9% over the last crop, which totalled 57.16 million tonnes, thus amounting to 64.56 million tonnes, a record high figure.

The soy harvest is expected to increase, despite a reduction of planted area, and the first crop should see growth of 10.6% in volume, totalling 1.49 million tonnes. Conab said the variation is due to a recovery of productivity, which was affected by drought in the last cycle, especially in the state of Parana.

On the other hand, a November Conab survey shows that the output of all other summer crops may decrease. The corn crop should record a reduction of 4.9%, or 1.64 million tonnes; the rice crop should decrease by 4.7%, or 586,300 tonnes, and the cotton crop should decrease by 1.3%, or 24,700 tonnes.

The total area planted with grain in Brazil should be 48 million hectares, representing growth of 0.7%, or 324,100 hectares more than in the 2008-09 crop. Soy alone, with a 6% expansion in planted area, should occupy 23.05 million hectares.