Cristiane Ribeiro
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Rio - The lack of rain in the country's main producing regions reduced the 2005 agricultural harvest by 5.2% in relation to the 2004 harvest and 8.8% in relation to the 2003 harvest, which was the greatest on record. Last year's production amounted to 112.6 million tons, as against 124.2 million tons in 2003.

The items most affected by the drought were corn (-6.6 million tons) and wheat (-1.1 million tons). These data are available in the publication released today (30) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) on muncipal agricultural production in 2005.

The study reveals that, although the area under cultivation in the country rose by approximately 636 thousand hectares in 2005, in consequence of the expansion in soybean production, there were reductions in the areas used to grow corn (-4.7%), wheat (-15.9%), and beans (-8.3%).

According to the study, besides unfavorable climatic conditions, farmers faced difficulties in renegotiating debts, getting their production to market, and obtaining loans and better prices.

Translation: David Silberstein