Brazil's favorable weather and the priority ascribed by farmers to planting soybean in the areas most adequate to cultivation led the Brazilian production to reach a new record high in 2007. Soy production reached 58,038 million tons in 2007, a result 10.6% greater than recorded in the previous year.
In this specific case, the expansion took place as a consequence of increased productivity, as harvested area saw a reduction of 6.5% from 2006 to 2007.
The country's leading soy producer state, Mato Grosso (Midwest) answered to 26.3% of the national total, with a production of 15.2 million tons - which was still 2% lower than that of 2006.
The second leading producer state, according to data supplied by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE), Paraná (South) answered to 20.5% of the total crop, or 11.8 million tons; next comes Rio Grande do Sul (South) with a crop of 9.9 million tons and growth of 31.3% over 2006.
The figures also show that the five leading soy producer municipalities in 2007 were all within the state of Mato Grosso: Sorriso (2.9% share of national production); Sapezal (1.7%); Nova Mutum (1.7%); Campo Novo de Parecis (1.5%); and Diamantino (1.4%).
The figures were culled from the 2007 Municipal Agricultural Survey - Grain, Leguminous and Oleaginous Plants, disclosed today (17) by the IBGE.
