Rio, 4/29/2004 (Agência Brasil) - This year's Brazilian grain harvest is now expected to reach 125.5 million tons, an increase of 1.53% over the 2003 harvest (123.6 million tons), according to the March estimate just released by the government statistical bureau (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística) (IBGE).

There will be increased production in all regions, except the South which has been hit by drought and will have a 10.12% reduction in production. The problem with lower production in the South region is that it is a big producer, accounting for over 42% of total domestic production. The biggest gain in production will be in the Northeast region, up over 44% (the Northeast accounts for only 9% of all production). Production will be up 8.59% in another large producing area, the Central West (32.5% of domestic production).

As for produce, the best results are expected in some types of cotton (should be up 46.8%, compared to 2003), rice (up 22%) and beans (up 7.2%).

Translator: Allen Bennett