F
rom the end of summer tomidwin-
ter, the agricultural hub comprised
by the Center-West region, rein-
forcedby part of Paraná, the South-
east and a small portion of the
Northeast,turnsintoanimmenseseaofcorn,
which,inthe2016/17seasonwasadetermin-
ing factor for Brazil to achieve recordproduc-
tion volumes in the two crops: 96.025million
tons. The total volume represents 40.5% of
the grains harvested in the Country, which
is estimated at 237.2 million tons, according
to a survey conducted by the National Food
SupplyAgency (Conab). The total areadevot-
edtothecropwentup9.2%andreaches17.4
millionhectares.
Corn ranks second among the crops pro-
duced in the Country, coming only after soy-
bean, with 113.5 million tons. The numbers
releasedbyConab,thoughbeingexpressive,re-
mainbelowtheamountforeseenbytheBrazil-
ian Instituteof GeographyandStatistics (IBGE),
of 97.7 million tons, and also below the esti-
matebytheFoodandAgricultureOrganization
oftheUnitedNations(FAO)andbyprivatecon-
sultancies,ofmorethan100milliontons.
According toConab, the sumof the crops
represents 44.3%over the volume produced
in the 2015/16 season, whose cropswere ad-
versely affected by bad weather conditions.
The final numbers of the 2016/17 summer
crop amount to 30.4 million tons, 31.65% of
Seaof
corn
Second crop is twice as big
asthesummercrop,turnsintoabumpercropandsetsa
recordof96milliontonsofcornharvestedinBrazil in2017
The crop represents 40.5% of the kernels harvested in the Country in the current crop year
the total, up 18% from the equivalent period
in theprevious year. The 3.2percent increase
in planted area, to 5.53million hectares, and
14.3% in productivity, to 5,498 kilograms per
hectare (91.6 sixty-kilogram sacks), added
4.63million tons to the final result.
ThesummercropprevailsintheSouthre-
gionstates,whichharvestednearly14million
tons, followed by the Southeast (8.2 million
tons). The cold climate in the South, in au-
tumn and winter, the water shortages in the
Northeast and the competition for area with
other crops in the Southeast delimit the re-
gional period for this crop.
The second crop predominates in the
Center-West, Paraná (representing the
South, which, alone, doubles the regional
production volume) and in the Southeast,
which in the winter produces an amount
equivalent to half of the summer crop. In
this season, the bumper crop reached 65.63
million tons, up61percent fromthe2015/16
crop year, thanks to the 43.4 percent leap
in productivity, resulting from favorable
weather conditions, to 5,533 kilograms per
hectare, and 12.3 percent bigger planted
area, up to 1.3 million hectares more than
in the previous year. The good prices prac-
ticed in 2016 equally encouraged the farm-
ers to growcorn.
n
Inor Ag. Assmann
16
n
n
n
Succession is a success
In the second corn crop regions, corn is grown after soybean harvest, which boasts
high levels of liquidity, good prices and guaranteed purchase by the global market. It is
in fact a techniquewith big commercial and agronomic advantages. In 2015, the bad cli-
mate resulting fromthe El Niño phenomenon delayed plantings and soybean harvest, a
fact that narrowed the cornseeding timeframe.
Furthermore, some regions in the Center-West registered precipitation levels lower
thanaverageanderraticrainfall,whichpreventedthefarmersfromseedingthecropdur-
ingtheidealperiod,ultimatelyjeopardizingthedevelopmentofthefields,whichbecame
less productive. “Some farmers, in light of the low volume of rainfall and even possible
drought conditions, simply decided not to plant’, SAYS Thomé Luiz Freire Guth, corn an-
alyst at theNational FoodSupply Agency (Conab). For the current season, with the good
performance of the soybean crop, favorable climate conditions and remunerative prices
at decision taking time, therewas enoughmotivation”, he concludes.
