Newsletter AgriBrasilis - September 12th
El Niño is a Big Threat to Robusta Coffee Farms in Brazil
Fernando Maximiliano is a market intelligence analyst at StoneX Brasil, graduated in agronomy at the Federal Federal Institute of Espírito Santo.
Can the El Niño cause a drastic drop in the Robusta coffee crop in Brazil?
It would be imprudent to say for sure that there will be a drop in Robusta coffee production. This depends on factors linked to the climate, and those predictions have a certain level of imprecision.
We can assess what would be the possible impacts in an El Niño scenario. There is a forecast for a strong El Niño to occur in the second half of 2023 and early 2024.
In a way, the occurrence of the phenomenon in 2023-2024 is similar to what was observed in 2015, when a strong El Niño occurred at the end of that year and at the beginning of 2016. At that time, Brazilian production had a reduction of more than 38% in two years as a result of the impacts of the phenomenon. However, there are some differences that show that the impact in 2024 should not be so severe.
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Overview by AgriBrasilis (09/02 - 09/08)
Argentina: Recent rainfall in the main agricultural region is a relief to farmers. “These rains are especially welcome for wheat, as they indicate the possibility of a great harvest, in addition to the opportunity to plant corn earlier”, said Cristian Russo, head of agriculture at Bolsa de Comercio de Rosario. (BCR)
Brazil: 2022/23 grain harvest has ended, reaching a new record, with an estimated production of 322.8 million tonnes. Volume represents a growth of 18.4%, or 50.1 million tonnes more than in the previous harvest. The result reflects a nigger planted area, of 78.5 million hectares, and better average yields, that went from 3,656 kg/ha to 4,111 kg/ha. (CONAB - Companhia Nacional do Abastecimento )
Pátria Investimentos announced it will launch Pátria Crédito Agrícola (Pátria Rural Credit), with the objective of financing agribusiness, in September of 2023. The first round of funding will seek to raise US$ 50.17 million, and the distribution will be carried out exclusively by XP Investimentos. (Patria Investimentos)
Chile: Cylindrocarpon sp. fungus, which causes the “black foot” disease in grapevines, is becoming a problem in walnut orchards. According to fruit growing consultant, Guillermo Llull and Agroscreening’s scientific director, Pablo Núñez, molecular analysis indicated the presence of the fungus in trees that showed “sudden death” in the south-central region. They highlighted that there is a correlation between the fungus and the presence of nematodes in the plants. (Agroscreening)
Agrochemical Update Brazil & Latin America – 09/06/2023
Syngenta’s sales fell 3.3%, reaching US$ 17.5 billion in the 1H of 2023. Crop protection sales fell 5.8%, to US$ 8.1 billion, decreasing in Europe, Africa, Middle East, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific (excluding China), but increasing in North America. The seeds division had an 8.7% increase in sales, reaching US$ 2.5 billion, with improvements in all major regions, with the exception of Latin America. According to Syngenta, Latin America showed an accelerated demand in the 1H of 2022, because of the concern of farmers with bottlenecks in the supply of agrochemicals, which also resulted in higher costs and selling prices. (Syngenta)
The company Nova, from Santa Fe, Argentina, announced an investment of US$ 15 million to build a microgranulated fertilizer factory. “We want to have the products already available for the new wheat season”, said Mauro Piva, CEO of Nova. (Nova)
Researchers in Bolivia are transforming forest residues into biochar, a carbon-rich product that can be used as fertilizer. José Grajeda Cruz, head of R&D at Exomad Green, based in Concepción, said biochar has benefits that help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Exomad Green has the largest global biochar production project, removing 300,000 tonnes of waste and producing 90,000 tonnes of biochar per year. “For Bolivia, the most important thing is that, by improving crop yields, [the use of biochar] reduces deforestation because local people no longer need to cut down forests to compensate for reduced productivity caused by soil degradation,” he said. Jose Cruz. (Exomad Green)
Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos – YPFB Refinación S.A., a Bolivian state-owned company, announced it will deliver 2,500 tonnes of granulated urea to the Granulated Fertilizer Production Plant in Cochabamba. “We have 60 days to deliver this amount of urea”, said the president of YPFB, Armin D. (YPFB)
Government of Brazil formalized its interest in buying fertilizers from Bolivia and proposed investments in new urea, potassium chloride and NPK production plants, according to the Minister of Hydrocarbons and Energy, Franklin Molina Ortiz. “The government of President Inácio Lula da Silva… sees Bolivia as the best ally to generate investments in new industrial facilities and even in a petrochemical plant,” said Ortiz. (Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energy)
Argentine Startup Works with NASA for Crop Monitoring
Diego Hoter is a co-founder and CEO of ucrop.it, a collaborative platform that seeks to record the “Crop Stories” of farmers. Hoter is the former CEO of Torrepueblo, with an MBA from the University of Edinburgh.
What is the purpose of the ucrop.it partnership with NASA?
Our goal is to develop geospatial algorithms using machine learning, aimed at measuring environmental and sustainability indicators. In the particular case of the partnership with NASA, we are developing an algorithm focused on the efficiency of crop nutrition.
The results generated by this algorithm will be used as evidence/data for our Crop Stories. The objective is to measure different functional aspects and the environmental improvement linked to the use of fertilizers by farmers and by the companies associated with them.
What are the “Crop Stories” that the company offers?
The Crop Story is a document recorded on the blockchain that contains data on the management activities of a farm, sustainability analysis, soil data, etc. Crop Stories can be customized depending on the digital contract between farmers and companies. These documents are encrypted, and stored securely and confidentially.
The Crop Story is supported by electronic and documentary datasets, backed by verification done by a ucrop.it agronomist, who assists the producer in the successful digitalization of the history of his crops. Everything is done according to the objectives and metrics that the company linked to the farmer wants.
The use of blockchain makes structured data immutable. Based on this data, QR codes can be generated. Such QR codes can be attached to products and brands, for example, with the aim of attesting to the sustainability of agricultural production for the final consumer or for other companies participating in the value chain.
Blockchain is a technology that allows the massive verification of decentralized data, with the certainty that this data cannot be modified. This technology works as a “digital notary” that attests to this data. In the case of sustainable agriculture, blockchain provides robustness and transparency for the use of metrics such as carbon footprint or balance, water usage, environmental impact, etc.
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