IBGE forecasts 2.2% higher grain crop this year

The crop of cereals, legumes and oilseeds this year should reach 231.5 million tons, today released the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). If the forecast is achieved, the production will be 2.2% higher, i.e. with 5 million tons more than that recorded in 2018. The estimate of the systematic survey of agricultural production in April of the Institute is 0.6% higher compared to the last forecast, made in March. The main responsible for the increase in the April forecast in relation to May were the most optimistic projections for corn (0.6%), soybean (0.1%), sorghum (11%), wheat (7.1%) and herbaceous cotton (1.8%). Among the three main grain harvests, only corn should grow in relation to 2018 (12.6%). Soybean should fall 4.4% and rice, 10.6%. Among the crops with expected production of more than 1 million tons, in addition to maize, are expected to be high, in the comparison of 2019 with 2018, in the cotton crops (29%), beans (3.2%), sorghum (5%) and wheat (3.9%). The harvested area should also close the year with growth of 2.2% compared to 2018, a reduction of 0.1% in comparison with the estimate made in March. Other Products In addition to cereals, legumes and oilseeds, IBGE also estimates the production of other crops important for Brazilian agriculture, such as sugarcane, coffee and orange. Sugar cane, the largest Brazilian agricultural product, with more than 600,000 tons harvested per year, should close the year with a high of 2.1%. Other products with high predicted are cassava (5.6%), tomato (0.7%) and banana (2.7%). On the other hand, falls are expected in coffee harvests (-10%), Orange (-5.2%) and grape (-10.7%).