September 25, 2006

 

Brazil loses 22 percent of wheat crop in Rio Grande do Sul on frost

 

 

Brazil's second largest wheat producing state, Rio Grande do Sul, lost 22 percent of the 2006 winter wheat crop because of a severe frost in the first week of the month, the state's Rural Assistance Agency, Emater, said late Friday (Sep 22).

 

Early estimates put wheat crop yields at 1,722 kilogrammes per hectare, but now those estimates are down to 1,300 kg per hectare, said Gianfranco Bratta, an Emater agronomist. The state farms some 693,000 hectares of wheat, Bratta said.

 

This is the first official estimate of wheat crop losses in Rio Grande do Sul. Last week, Emater said losses could be as much as 49 percent in some parts of the state. One area, Santa Rosa, lost up to 46 percent of its crop, however.

 

The loss will likely put Brazil's total wheat crop under 3 million tonnes, from an initial estimate at the beginning of the planting season closer to 5 million tonnes.

 

Parana state, the biggest producer, also faced crop-damaging cold in the southern half of the state. The secretary of agriculture there said Friday that an official damage assessment has yet to be made.

 

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