Heat and drought are a concern for agriculture, which predicts a drop in production

The third heat wave of the year and the lack of rain, caused by the El Niño phenomenon, have caused concern among rural producers in Mato Grosso. Excessive heat and lack of humidity interfere with crops and should affect the production of this harvest.

According to Imea (Mato-Grossense Institute of Agricultural Economics), production for the 2023/2024 harvest is expected to fall by 3.39% compared to last year, remaining projected at 43.78 million tons.

The Institute stated that uncertainties regarding this harvest have increased in recent days, due to the unfavorable climate scenario, a reflection of the El Niño phenomenon.

“In the last month, rainfall was lower than the same period last year and less than necessary for the development of crops, which resulted in a delay in sowing”, says in a report released on the 6th.

From last Monday (13) until at least this Friday (17), a strong heat wave hits the entire state, leaving temperatures up to 5°C above average. Additionally, rainfall is below normal for spring.

According to the president of Aprosoja-MT (Association of Soybean and Corn Producers of Mato Grosso), Fernando Cadore, this harvest is seeing the biggest delay in sowing in the last historical series of 5 years in Mato Grosso, due to the extreme heat and lack of rain.

“What worries our producer and us most are the conditions of the crops already sown. High temperatures, places with several days without rain, reaching 20, 25 days, which has greatly compromised the development of crops and causing future losses that are difficult to measure”, explains Cadore.

The president said that this is causing producers to feel insecure about future investments. “Obviously this brings a lot of concern and a lot of anguish [a quem produz]. As the development is complex, the producer is unsure of his own commercialization and future investments,” he said.

According to Imea, this season a large number of areas were observed that needed replanting.

“[Existem] Some cases of replanting to be evaluated with the return of the rains, so Aprosoja is very concerned about these reports coming from the base, but we will continue working in the field to be able to report and inform the conditions of the crops. We bring these reports with great apprehension, but also hoping that rain will come to improve crop conditions”, concluded Cadore.

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