theBrazilianNortheastispursuingagradualrecoveryfromthelosses
enduredoverthepastthreeseasons,hitbydroughtconditions
With the climate back to normal,
n
n
n
The scenario in Maranhão
In
Maranhão
,theareadevotedtocottonisconcentratedinthreefarmsintheSouthern
region,totaling22.2thousandhectares,up6.2%fromthe2015/16growingseason.Themu-
nicipalityofBalsas,forthefirsttime,willgrowasecondcottoncropinanareaof3,600hect-
ares.Productivity,however,shouldfall0.9%,to1,566kilogramsoffiberperhectare.Produc-
tionwillbeup5.5%,totaling34.8thousandtons,thankstothebiggerarea.
n
n
n
Other states
Piauí
willalsoshowprogressbecauseoffavorableweatherconditions.ItsCerradoarea
will be expandedby 100 hectares, to a total of 5,600, or 1.8%, but productivity should soar
from485 to1,342kilogramsper hectare, equivalent toexpressive177%. Thevolume tends
togoupfrom2.7thousandto7.5thousandtons.Underaconventionaldrylandandsmall-
farmsystem, basedon family labor,
Ceará
and
Paraíba
togetherwill cultivate900hectares
ofcotton,withanaverageof265kilogramsperhectareandavolumeof300tonsoffiber.
Rio
GrandedoNorte
ishometoamoreprofessionalareaof300hectares,withaproductivityof
about1.7thousandkilogramsoffiberperhectare,reachingavolumeof500tons.
Back
tonormal
I
n the 2016/17 growing season, the North-
east, second biggest cotton producer in
Brazil, will still endure the reflections from
the losses of the three past seasons, ad-
versely affected by bad climate condi-
tions. The drought, in conjunction with the El
Niño phenomenon in this region of the Coun-
try;scarceincomeandaccumulateddamages
takeaheavytollontheplantedarea,whichre-
cededanextra11.9%, from262.3 to231 thou-
sand hectares, according to a survey con-
ducted by the National Food Supply Agency
(Conab),disclosedinMay2017.
Inthepreviousgrowingseason,theplant-
ed area suffered a reduction of 17.5%, under
the influence of a prolonged drought. The
amount of fiber per hectaredropped to1,081
kilograms and total production was down
42.7%, to 284 thousand tons. In the 2016/17
season, however, productivity is supposed to
soar 44.7%, to 1,594 kilograms per hectare;
production is estimated at 361.5 thousand
tons (up 27.5%), and the quality of the fiber
should compensate at sales.
In
Bahia
, the biggest regional produc-
er, and ranking second as national cotton
producer, in Conab’s estimate the area de-
voted to the crop reaches 202 thousand
hectares. Harvest started gradually, in May,
in some districts of dryland cotton, like in
Vale do São Francisco. Most cotton fields
are located in the Center-South region of
the State (11.22 thousand hectares), in Vale
do São Francisco (3.5 mil thousand hect-
areswith a center pivot) and in the FarWest
(190.8 thousand hectares).
According to Conab sources, the dry-
land cotton fields located in the micro-re-
gion of Bom Jesus da Lapa should reach
average productivity rates of 450 kilograms
of seed cotton per hectare, approximate-
ly 200 kilograms of fiber, by virtue of the
system in use and short rainy season. The
leading cotton producing region in Bahia is
the Far West, comprising such municipali-
ties as Barreiras, Luís Eduardo Magalhães,
São Desidério, Formosa do Rio Preto and
Correntina, in dryland cultivations and irri-
gated with center pivot.
Throughout the region, the rains in Feb-
ruary and March have been driving the de-
velopment of the plants in proportions the
farmershavenotwitnessedforyears.Taking
into consideration the average between the
dryland fields and irrigated land, productiv-
ity is estimated at 4,063 kilograms of seed
cotton per hectare. Lidervan Mota Moraes,
executive director at the Bahia Association
of CottonProducers (Abapa) says the expec-
tation could not be better. “We still have to
consider the climate at harvest. Excessive
rainfall could cause trouble, but the esti-
mate is to reap 100 to 110 arrobas of cotton
more than in 2016”, he acknowledges.
COMPENSATION
If agoodcrop isharvest-
ed,thefarmers’incomewillbeenoughtocope
withthecost(whichishigh)andwiththerene-
gotiationswiththefinancingbanks,inputsup-
pliers and service companies, in the case of
thosewhohadgreat difficulty inmakinggood
to their commitments. The belief that only a
lushcottoncropredeemsalostcropistrue.
In the 2015/16 growing season, even big-
ger losses were prevented fromhappening in
Bahia thanks to the quality of the fiber. “Qual-
ity was very good in the 2016 season and it
should be even better in the new season,
thanks to follow-up work on the varieties, in
conjunction with the Bahia Foundation”, ex-
plains LidervanMotaMoraes, fromAbapa. Ac-
cordingtohim,ifthefarmersfetchgoodprices
inthe2016/17season,asexpected,(theywere
up 75% in mid-May, and remained steady
above 2016 prices), the trend is for a partial
recovery of the area in the 2017/18 crop year,
withplantingstartingatyear’send.
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