Jun. 1, 2011
The dry season, which started in April in many areas of Mato Grosso, is not only worrying farmers who planted safrinha corn, it is also becoming a worry for farmers who planted safrinha cotton as well. The safrinha cotton crop in Mato Grosso was planted in later January and it needed good soil moisture until the end of May to insure top yields, but unfortunately, the rainy season ended a month earlier than what had been anticipated.
The Mato Grosso Institute of Rural Economics (Imea) acknowledges that the safrinha cotton crop in the state will probably be disappointing, but they have not yet made an official estimate of the extent of the losses. The Cotton Producers Association of Mato Grosso (Ampa) also thinks the safrinha cotton crop will be disappointing and they are estimating that yields could be down by 20% compared to earlier estimates. Approximately 40% of the cotton acreage in the state was planted as a second crop following the early soybean harvest.
Even with a smaller safrinha crop, the total cotton production in Mato Grosso is going to be much higher than in 2019/10 due to the huge increase in planted acreage. In 2010/11, it is estimated that farmers in the state planted 708,000 hectares of cotton which is 64% more than the 428,000 hectares planted in 2009/10.
A few early fields of cotton have been harvested in Mato Grosso, but the main cotton harvest in the state won't start until the second half of June.
Conab is estimating that the total cotton crop in Brazil will be 2.02 million tons in 2010/11 which is 69% more than what was produced in 2009/10.
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