The seventh estimate of the cereal, legume, and oilseed plant crop indicate that the volume of production this year should attain 119.479 million tons, 3.36% less than the 123.632 million tons harvested in 2003. Compared with the estimate made in June, July's figures showed a 0.57% increase, reflecting alterations in the calculations made by farmers.

The 2004 agricultural crop will be smaller than last year's as a result of heavy rains, as well as the drought that affected the most important centers of production. This is the assessment made by the manager of the Brazilian Insitute of Geography and Statistics' (IBGE) Systematic Survey of Agricultural Production, Carlos Alberto Lauria, based on the data for July.

According to Lauria, "soybeans were the chief culprit behind the decline in this year's crop, since it is responsible for 40% of the entire domestic harvest. The drought in southern Brazil, the main center of soybean production, caused the loss of more than 40% of the crop."

Lauria remarked that this year's remaining scheduled estimates will not change the forecast for the overall harvest very much, since approximately 85% of the harvest has already been gathered. Wheat is the only crop still in the fields, but it accounts for only 5% of the total.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Cristiane Ribeiro
Translator: David Silberstein