Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture Antonio Andrade said on Jan. 9 that soy production could reach even higher levels than current projections, which peg the crop at about 90 million tonnes for the 2013/14 harvest.
“The performance of soybeans for this crop should be even better than the current forecasts, reaching 95 million. This result is due to increased productivity and makes Brazil the largest producer of grain in the world, surpassing the U.S.,” Andrade said.
Conab, the country’s crop bureau, raised its soybean forecast to 90.3 million tonnes for the current crop, a 10.8% increase. Rice production climbed 5.1%, reaching 12.4 million tons. Brazil’s grain production is expected to total 196.7 million tonnes, up 5.2% from the previous harvest of 186.9 million tons.
El maíz, el segundo cultivo más grande producido en Brasil, disminuyó 5.9%, ya que los productores se sintieron desalentados por los precios más bajos y en su lugar plantaron soja, según la Conab.
Con respecto al área, la soja se expandió más que cualquier otro cultivo a 6.6%, de 27.7 a 29.6 millones de hectáreas. El área de arroz, frijol y algodón también aumentó, mientras que el área de maíz de primera cosecha se contrajo 4.7%, de 6.8 a 6.5 millones de hectáreas.
“Our production increases every year. This is because Brazil has made great technologies in the field, and we work daily with the producers who go to great lengths to put our production as one of the largest in the world,” Andrade said.