Rains halt the harvest of corn in MS and SP

Due to the constant rain, the corn harvest is delayed in the region of Cocamar, comprising part of the Northwest and Northern State, southwest of Mato Grosso do Sul and West. According to information of the cooperative, the production was taken in only 1% of cultivated areas so far, against 4% in this same period in 2014. In the first harvest, productivity was up 6,500 kilos per hectare, but the average estimated by Cocamar is 5,500 pounds, virtually the same as the previous year.

CONCERNED-in the municipality of forest, 20 km from Maringá, where the harvest usually starts earlier, the agricultural engineer Antonio Claudemir Rodrigues, the local unit of the cooperative, says the producers are concerned and, in some properties, says corn sprouted. He says that has traversed the crops and observed that, in General, there is still no commitment, but will only be possible to have an idea of the quality of the beans when the product is being received. The weather, which helped in the development, now creates difficulties. Last week the producers of forest and nearby municipalities suffered losses with a storm of high winds and hail, which overthrew many feet. In some properties, 70% of the crop was damaged, according to Ramirez.

A broader review, the Cocamar considers that, despite the excessive rain in all regions, the quality of grain has not been impaired. "If moisture persists, there may be a higher percentage of budded and ardidos grains," says the Coordinator of annual crops of Cocamar, agronomist Emerson Nunes.

Although there has been a 3% reduction in acreage this crop, the Cocamar keeps expecting to receive a record volume of corn, estimated at 940 thousand tons, against 825 thousand of 2014.

WHEAT-the storms that have hit the Paraná are damaging, especially wheat crops. According to the Cocamar, larger losses in its region focus on Congoinhas, in the North, where around 2.5 thousand hectares have been affected.