Curitiba, March 26, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - The 2003/2004 soybean crop in the state of Paraná, in Southern Brazil, suffered a 1,689,540 ton reduction, the equivalent of 14.2%, and losses evaluated at US$ 497 million (R$ 1.46 billion). The drought in recent months contributed to the collapse in production, according to data published by the State Secretariat of Agriculture.

The expected harvest was reduced from 11,919,826 tons, in the initial estimate, to 10,230,280 tons.

Translator: David Silberstein