Paraguay’s agricultural GDP is expected to grow 22.5%
According to the Argentine Corn and Sorghum Association (Maizar), it is necessary to replace gasoline imports with the local bioethanol, due to a shortage of supply in the country. The lack of dollars worsens the situation, resulting in imports of gasoline of more than US$ 1 billion in 2022. Current legislation establishes a 12% amount of bioethanol in gasoline, which is lower than in Brazil and Paraguay. “An increase of, for example, 3% in the mixture, would mean an additional production of 300 thousand m3/year of bioethanol, which represents around 750 thousand tonnes more industrialized corn per year”, according to Maizar. (Maizar)
According to Dante Romano, a researcher at the Austral University’s Center for Business and Food, there is a lot of uncertainty in the local grain market. “Farmers don’t want to spend pesos for products they don’t sell, and exporters don’t want to validate the requested prices of soybean, because in that way they would lose money… the buyers’ desperation to get rid of pesos led to the price increase of corn…“, said Romano. (Universidad Austral)
Forest fires have left Santa Cruz, Bolivia’s most populous city, covered in smoke. More than 100,000 hot spots were recorded during October in the country. Beni is the department that presents the greatest losses, with more than one million hectares affected by the fires. (MetSul Meteorologia; Ministry of Civil Defense)
51 new markets opened between January and September 2023, 22 in the Americas and 14 in Asia. Most recent commercial openings are: Morocco (food for pets); Mexico (equine semen); Vanuatu (thermo-processed poultry meat products); Algeria (chicken meat); and Chile (fresh papaya). (MAPA)
Sorghum production in the State of Minas Gerais grew 84% and is expected to reach 1.2 million tonnes during the 2022/23 season. “Sorghum has been a good option for farmers, especially when the off-season corn planting window is reduced. It is resistant to water scarcity and has a lower production cost”, said Feliciano de Oliveira, superintendent of innovation and economics at the Minas Gerais Department of Agriculture. (Seapa)
Antônio Pitangui de Salvo, president of the Federation of Agriculture and Livestock of the State of Minas Gerais, stated that Brazilian ranchers are being harmed by the increase in imports of subsidized milk powder, mainly from Argentina. According to him, imports should be suspended immediately to help ranchers suffering from low prices. “We are experiencing 13 months of aggressive, predatory and unfair milk imports and this is destroying Brazil’s dairy chain. This rampant import is in the order of 200 million L per month, which represents 10% of the milk consumed in the country”, according to the vice-president of the National Dairy Farming Commission, Jônadan Ma. (Faemg; CNA)
According to a study performed by Embrapa, Brazil has the lowest production cost in US$/kg (live animal) of pigs, ahead of 17 countries. In the State of Mato Grosso, the production cost in 2022 was US$ 1.13/kg, while in Santa Catarina it was US$ 1.28. Average for the countries studied is US$ 1.72/kg of live animals. Objective of the study was “to bring information to players in the production chain in Brazil about the degree of competitiveness of their competitors”, said the researcher at Embrapa Swine and Poultry, Marcelo Miele. (Embrapa Swine and Poultry)
On November 1st, the vaccination campaign against foot-and-mouth disease began in the State of São Paulo. Cattle up to 24 months old must be vaccinated, corresponding to around 5 million animals, with vaccination of other animals prohibited. Deadline for immunization ends on November 31st. Farmers have until December 7th to declare vaccination. (State of São Paulo Department of Agriculture)
Pedro Tavares Campos Neto, vice-president of the Paraíba Sugarcane Farmers Association, was elected president of the Union of Sugarcane Farmers from the Northeast of Brazil. (Unida)
São Martinho, a local sugar-ethanol company, will build its first biomethane unit, which will process 100% of the vinasse generated at the Santa Cruz unit, located in Américo Brasiliense, State of São Paulo, in order to produce 15 million m3 of biomethane per season. “Biomethane production begins with 20% of our potential, connected to the distribution system via gas pipeline, and capable of offering a renewable alternative to a region with high fossil fuel consumption”, said the company’s president, Fabio Venturelli. (São Martinho)
Sugarcane Technology Center will receive US$ 36.20 million from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, to invest in biotechnology projects (GMO varieties) and seeds (new planting system). (CTC)
Sugarcane season until September was the most productive in 20 years. This year, average productivity in the Center-South reached 91.1 tonnes per hectare, the highest in the historical series. (CTC)
Ministries of Agriculture of Brazil and Indonesia have established a technical agreement for the development of vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease. (MAPA)
Brazilian Association of Cotton Farmers is waiting for the Indian government to respond to the request for a quota of 100 thousand tonnes of cotton from Brazil, free of the 11% tax rate on exports to that country. Request is being reinforced by the Brazilian government, and was discussed in a meeting with the general secretary of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, Chandrima Chatterjee. (Abrapa)
Country has become the second largest consumer of avocados per capita in the world. There are 32.2 thousand hectares of avocado in Chile. Production average is 11 tonnes/hectare per year, but this can be quite variable, and depends on technological levels and climatic conditions in the farms, according to Javiera Pefaur, fruit and potato specialist at the Secretariat of Agrarian Studies and Policies. (Odepa)
Cherry is a prominent product in bilateral trade between Chile and China. “Almost 90% of our cherries go to China and the 2022/2023 harvest broke records, with 83 million trays“, the said minister of agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela. (Ministry of Agriculture)
Sanitary protocols approved for export of beef and quinoa to China. “For Colombia, China is a priority ally, which we want to count on to intensify our agricultural trade,” said Juan Fernando Roa, general manager of the Agricultural Institute of Colombia. (ICA)
Agricultural Institute of Colombia announced the implementation of the National Plan for Prevention, Surveillance and Control of Fusarium oxysporum, which aims to protect banana crops throughout the country against the fungus. (ICA)
Banana exports from Ecuador from January to September of 2023 reached 273.03 million boxes, an increase of 6.41% when compared to the same period in 2022. Banana sales to the EU grew by more than 19% in the period. (Banana Sales and Export Association)
Detection of avian influenza in a poultry production unit in the Sonora region, in Cajeme. General Directorate of Animal Health (DGSA) declared total quarantine for the affected farm and imposed an internal quarantine in the State of Sonora. To transport birds from poultry production units (UPAs) in the State, it is necessary to present PCR tests that prove absence of the disease. (Department of Agriculture)
Economy grew 3.3% in one year. This result can be explained by Mexico’s consumer and agricultural sectors, which have had strong performances in recent months. Agriculture recorded an increase of 3.2% between July and September compared to the previous quarter, while the manufacturing sector rose 1.4%. (Inegi)
Braskem Idesa obtained syndicated financing of US$408 million, with a term of five years, for the construction of an ethanol import terminal. (Braskem Idesa)
Economy should grow 4.5%, boosted by the agricultural sector. Agricultural GDP is expected to grow 22.5%, being the sector with the highest growth. In the last soybean season, the sector had the worst performance in history, with a volume of 3 million tonnes. This year, 9.6 million tonnes are estimated. (Central Bank)
“There will be 30% less Peruvian grapes exported to Europe”, according to Henk Vlaeminck, from Van Dijk Foods. “The predominance of seedless varieties is increasing… Around 80% of the grapes we sell are seedless,” said Vlaeminck. “We predict that 30% fewer Peruvian grapes will reach Europe, as yields are somewhat lower in Peru and demand from other markets will likely be higher this year”. (Van Dijk Foods)
Until 04/30/2024, outdoor burning is prohibited. Objective is to prevent the occurrence of forest fires. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the climate outlook will not be favorable to the occurrence of large fires next summer, but “technical recommendations and the human factor should not be neglected”. (Ministry of Agriculture)
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