The Drought affecting Entre Ríos, described as the worst in the last 60 yearscaused a sharp decrease in the yield per hectare of prime corn implanted in the province, for which losses of about US$130 million are expected, the Entre Ríos Grain Exchange warned this Thursday.
The area cultivated with prime corn is located around 420,000 hectares, of which 96% present a state between fair and bad.
In addition, some 30,000 hectares will not be harvested, so production would be 780,000 tons, 46% less than the previous cycle (658,795 fewer tons).
With a scenario where the average yield will be 2,500 kilograms per hectare, the 2022/23 season foresees losses of 129,966,544 dollars, according to a report by the Stock Exchange and the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the National University of Entre Ríos (UNER). .
The 30,000 unharvested hectares caused a loss of US$756 per hectare, while the rest harvested subtracted about US$275 per hectare, totaling US$22,674,329 and US$107,292,215, respectively, which will not be obtained.
The 30,000 hectares without harvest caused 756 dollars per hectare of loss
According to the Stock Market, it is equivalent to almost 150,000 current basic family baskets, for about $24,000,000,000.
The study determined that whoever must currently lease the fields must produce an average of 4,200 kilograms per hectare, and 2,800 kilograms on average for those who have their own land, in order to have economic benefits.
In it best scenariofrom a producer with his own field and with a production of 5,000 kilograms per hectare, it would be possible to exceed the costs of planting and harvesting and would obtain a benefit of 486 dollars per hectare.
The most likely scenariowith a production of 2,500 kilos per hectare and where the producer owns 30% of the field and rents the rest, the income is not enough and he will have losses of almost 275 dollars per hectare.
Finally, the study determined that when the surface is not harvested, and being in a rental condition, the producer will have to face the costs of planting and leasing without profit and with losses of more than US$ 800 per hectare.
2022, according to the stock exchange, was the “driest year of the last sixty” periods, and the 2020/21/22 triennium stands out as the driest “ever observed”.
The rainfall records in Entre Ríos were among the ten lowest in the last 60 years in a large part of the province, where the rains that fell were also up to six times less than what it should normally rain.
This scenario, and the last week without rainfall and with temperatures above normal values, caused almost zero water reserves and a marked advance in the drought on the soil of Entre Ríos.
