Brazil's agricultural production to fall 9.2 pct in 2018: study

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's 2018 crop will fall 9.2 percent compared to 2017, totaling 219.5 million tons, Brazilian statistics agency IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) announced Tuesday.

According to IBGE, the reduction will be mainly due to a lower production of corn and soybeans. The corn crop is expected to amount to 15.9 million metric tons, down 15.9 percent from 2017, while the soybean crop is expected to fall 5.9 percent to 6.8 million metric tons.

In addition, the production of rice will fall 8 percent next year. The production of cotton and beans, on the other hand, is expected to rise 4.5 and 4.1 percent respectively.

IBGE also published the most recent estimates for the 2017 crop, which is expected to reach 241.9 million metric tons, up 30.2 percent from the 185.8 tons registered in 2016. The area to be harvested will reach 61.2 million hectares, up 7.2 percent from 2016.

Rice, corn and soybeans are the three main crop products, representing 93.9 percent of the production estimate and accounting for 87.8 percent of the area to be harvested, according to IBGE. Enditem