The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) reduced its estimate for the production of cereals, legumes and oilseeds this year. According to the Systematic Survey of Agricultural Production (LSPA), carried out in March, it is estimated that the country will close 2022 with a harvest of 258.9 million tons, 1% below (or 2.7 million tons less) than the forecast in the February survey.
Even with the forecast reduction from one month to another, Brazil should still have a record harvest this year, with production 2.3% higher (or 5.7 million tons more) than last year, according to the IBGE
The previous record had been in 2020, when 255.4 million tons of cereals, pulses and oilseeds were produced.
Estimates
The reduction in the forecast from February to March was driven by the drops in the production estimates of soybeans (-5.6%), the first corn crop (-3.8%), grapes (-9.5%) and tomato (-1.9%).
Despite this, in this period there were improvements in estimates for the second crop of corn (4.9%), herbaceous cotton (3.7%), beans (3%), oats (3.3%), sorghum (0. 5%) and wheat (9.6%). Rice had a slight variation of -0.1%.
The area to be harvested in 2022 is expected to reach 71.8 million hectares, according to the March survey, 0.8% higher than forecast in February and 4.7% higher than last year.
