Higher yields
In the 2014/15 growing season, favorable weather conditions contributed
towards the positive results in the Brazilian fields, especially in the South
In the 2014/15 growing season, Brazil pro-
duced a total of 84.7million tons of corn, in an
area of 15.7 million hectares, including both
crops. In the summer crop, a survey by theNa-
tional Food Supply Agency (Conab) points to
a crop of 30.082 million tons, produced on
6.142 million hectares, with productivity rates
of 4,898 kilograms per hectare. In the second
or winter crop, the numbers are even more
significant. From a total of 9.55 million hect-
ares, 54.59 million tons were harvested, with
yields of 5,716 kilograms per hectare.
According to planning technician Eledon
Pereira de Oliveira, at Conab’s survey and as-
sessment department, over the past season,
weather conditions were favorable, in part,
to the corn crop. In the South of the Country,
which accounts for 46% of the total produc-
tion volume, weather conditions pushed pro-
ductivity up 1.8% from the 2013/14 growing
season. “The credit of this result goes particu-
larly to Rio Grande do Sul, where productivity
gains amounted to 6.4%”, he explains.
In the territory of RioGrandedoSul, plant-
ing started in August and weather conditions
were favorable during almost the entire grow-
ing stage. “A great deal of this performance is
linked to treated hybrids, sown in practically
the entire area devoted to corn in the State”,
he notes. The analyst clarifies that this com-
bination contributed towards the achieve-
ment of record levels in the season, 6,560 Ki-
lograms per hectare, against 5,544 kilograms
per hectare in the previous crop year – result
that made up for occasional losses in munici-
palities with erratic rain patterns.
In the Southeast (25% of the production
volume) and in the Center-West (10% of the
volume), the drought conditions during the
growing stage caused losses, of 14.4% and
1.8%, respectively. Besides productivity reduc-
tions, the planted area shrank 11.7% – fields
that were devoted to soybean. According to
Oliveira, as the rainy season in the Center-West
is rather resilient, extending from September
through April or May the following year, it is
possible to grow two crops in the same area,
one after the other, like corn and soybean.
“In the first period, from September to
December, most farmers opt for soybean,
followed by corn, from January to March”,
he clarifies. “Therefore, the farmers who
used to grow these two crops from Septem-
ber to December, are now reducing the area
devoted to corn in the first crop, and grow-
ingmore soybean and, after soybean harvest,
from January onwards, they grow corn.” In
the 2014/15 growing season, the share of
corn in the first crop was 36% of the total
volume, implying in a picture of drastic in-
version, compared to the recent past.
Analyst Thomé Luiz Freire Guth, of the
Department of Oilseeds and Livestock Prod-
ucts at Conab, explains that this is happen-
ing because the farmers prefer to invest in
soybean in the first crop, which fetches real
good prices. “The oilseed’s net value has at-
tracted the farmers as an economic planting
option”, he explains. There is nothing that
is depriving the corn crops from their na-
tional representativeness, and they are even
more competitive in 2016 given their high
market prices – influenced by higher export
parity prices (especially because of the high-
ly appreciated dollar), as well as an imbal-
ance between supply and demand.
Inor Ag. Assmann
18
Produção brasileira de milho – total da safra
A MULTIPLICAÇÃO DOS GRÃOS
All together
Fonte:
Conab, junho de 2016.
Área (Mil ha)
Produtividade (kg/ha)
Produção (mil t)
Região
2014/15 2015/16
% 2014/15 2015/16
% 2014/15 2015/16
%
Norte
667,3 571,6 -14,3
3.838 3.485 -9,2% 2.561,0 1.992,3 -22,2
Nordeste
2.675,4 2.472,8 -7,6
2.333 1.830 -21,6
6.243,1 4.524,9 -27,5
Centro-Oeste
6.480,2 6.843,8 5,6
6.108 5.081 -16,8
39.582,1 34.770,0 -12,2
Sudeste
2.060,7 2.035,0 -1,2
5.368 4.911 -8,5
11.061,2 9.994,1 -9,6
Sul
3.809,3 3.823,3 0,4
6.622 6.524 -1,5
25.225,0 24.941,7 -1,1
Brasil
15.692,9 15.746,5 0,3
5.396 4.841 -10,3
84.672,4 76.223,0 -10,0
