| Follow us on:
|
![Workers on tractors harvest soybeans in Campo Novo do Parecis, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, Thursday, March 5, 2009 [AP]](http://thebricspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/brazil-soybean.jpg)
Workers on tractors harvest soybeans in Campo Novo do Parecis, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, Thursday, March 5, 2009 [AP]
Brazil’s government crop supply agency forecast record grain output of 193 million tons this year, of which 90 million tons will be soybeans.
If confirmed, the South American country would overtake the United States as the world’s top producer of the oilseed in 2014.
“Brazil will become the world’s leading soybean producer, showing the strength of our agricultural sector, which is important to our development, the domestic supply and exports,” Rousseff said.
Soybean will remain Brazil’s largest crop, with its share in the total grain production rising from 43 per cent to 47 per cent, Conab forecast.
Rousseff said Brazil has committed to boosting its agricultural productivity as its grain production increased by more than two-fold in the past two decades, while the arable land grew only by 41 per cent during the same period.
Brazil’s record corn crop last season briefly made it the top global exporter of both soybeans and corn.
Planting was earlier expanded to meet increased demand from China, the biggest buyer.
China is expected to account for 64 per cent of world soybean imports in 2013-14 from 61 per cent the previous year, according to Hamburg-based research firm Oil World.
TBP and Agencies
