Brazilian farmers should produce 126 million tons of grain in the 2006-2007 crop, according to estimates by Brazil's National Food Supply Company (Conab), a state-owned organization in charge of supervising and regulating agricultural production in the country.
If Conab's projection proves true, then Brazilian agricultural production will break the record established by the 2002-2003 crop. The production for the current crop might be 3% higher than in the last record high.
Soy, corn and cotton are the products for which production should increase the most, according to the forecast of Conab. Brazilian soy production is expected to reach 56 million tons – a 5% increase compared with the previous crop. Corn production should increase 13% to reach 48 million tons.
The Conab survey is conducted in 280 municipalities in southern and midwestern Brazil, and in the northeastern states of Bahia, Rondônia, Pará, Tocantins, Maranhão and Piauí. A total of 47 technicians of Conab conducted 1,440 interviews with farmers to estimate the volume of agricultural production.
Electronics
On another economic front, sales of electric and electronic products grew 8.5% in Brazil in 2006, according to figures supplied yesterday, February 8, by the National Association of Manufacturers of Electronic Products (Eletros).
Sales of white line products rose 13.74%. The products that powered the performance were refrigerators, with sales rising 17.89% over 2005, automatic washers, which presented growth of 14.9%, and cookers, whose sales were up 10.6% when compared to the previous year.