Reuters – Brazil’s top grain-producing state is facing its driest April in 17 years, threatening a key second corn crop in the agricultural powerhouse, weather service EarthDaily Agro said.
Accumulated April rainfall in Mato Grosso state totalled 30 millimetres (1.18 inches), 70 per cent below the average for the last decade, EarthDaily Agro, which monitors agricultural areas via satellite images, estimates.
“Corn producers are increasingly concerned with the drought that has lasted more than a month in several municipalities,” an EarthDaily Agro report seen by Reuters says.
Read Also
Seeding Indigenous agricultural prosperity
National Circle for Indigenous Agriculture and Food says Indigenous agricultural success needs strong relationships.
Mato Grosso is expected to produce around 40 million tonnes in its second corn crop, nearly half Brazil’s total output of 88.5 million tonnes, the government’s food supply and statistics agency Conab estimates.
A setback for Brazil’s corn crop, expected to total a record of more than 115 million tonnes this year including the first planting, could hurt exports and domestic supplies, driving up prices that are already at historically high levels.
“The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has deteriorated slightly in recent days (in Mato Grosso), showing the first effects of water stress. Soil moisture is low and expected to drop even further in the short term, curtailing the second crop’s potential,” EarthDaily Agro said in its report.
It did not provide more detailed analysis on the impact of the drought, with neighbouring grain-producing state Goias expected to have only 12.5 millimetres of accumulated rainfall in April, compared with an 80-millimetre average.
In 2016, when corn areas were hit by drought, precipitation volumes reached 6.7 millimetres, EarthDaily Agro said.
