Brazil expects over 310 mln tons of grain output in 2022-2023

BRASILIA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Brazil expects its 2022-2023 harvest season to yield up to 310.6 million tons of grain, 38.2 million tons more than the last harvest, the state-run National Supply Company (CONAB) said Wednesday.

A harvester unloads newly-collected soybeans in the fields on the outskirts of Brasilia, Brazil, Feb. 4, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)

"The beginning of the corn and soybean harvest in the state of Rio Grande do Sul confirms the forecasts of a sharp drop in productivity due to the low rainfall," CONAB President Guilherme Ribeiro said in a report.

On the other hand, crops in the country's central western region, such as the Mato Grosso state, have benefited from the "favorable weather," he noted.

Even so, CONAB estimates an increase in both cultivated area and productivity, which is expected to result in a harvest in the first crop of 26.5 million tons and the second crop of 95 million tons.

The harvest season for soybean, the country's main export product, has already begun in several regions of the South American country.

Regarding rice, CONAB forecasts that the output will reach 10.2 million tons.