RIO DE JANEIRO, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's 2024 grain harvest is set to be 5.9 percent smaller than 2023 due to poor weather in several parts of the country, the state-run Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) reported Thursday.
According to the IBGE report, production of cereals, legumes and oilseeds is expected to total 296.8 million tons this year, 18.6 million tons below last year's harvest, despite a 0.6-percent increase in the cultivated land.
"The reduction in production reflects the impact of the climate problems that occurred in 2023 and 2024, from the planting of crops and a lack of rain in the Central-West region, to the high temperatures that shortened the cycle of some crops and reduced productivity," the report said.
Rice, corn and soybeans -- the South American country's top three agricultural products -- will together represent 91.5 percent of the estimated production and 87.2 percent of the area to be cultivated.
Both soybean and corn output is expected to decline "due to meteorological problems, which should lead to lower productivity in 2024," it added.
