The Gross Value of Agricultural Production (VBP) is expected to reach R$600.93 billion in 2019, according to projections made by the Agricultural Policy Secretariat of the Ministry of Agriculture. If confirmed, this will be the second best result in history, behind only the record achieved in 2017, of R$604.16 billion.
On the other hand, the general coordinator of the ministry's secretariat, José Garcia Gasques, believes that the amount should not be much different until the end of the year, since only winter crops and wheat are missing for closing.
Livestock farming has been leading the growth, with a real increase of 4.1%, which, according to a study by the ministry, shows the recovery of activity, while crops remain stable in relation to the previous year with a value similar to that of last year.
“There are a relatively large number of products that have been performing well,” Gasques points out. “But the most notable are cotton, peanuts, bananas, potatoes, beans, oranges, corn, tomatoes and wheat.” Some have recovered compared to 2018. “It is worth noting that the favorable results for beans and corn are due to the second corn harvest, which saw an exceptional increase in productivity, and the second and third bean harvests.”
In livestock farming, growth is mainly due to cattle, pigs and chicken. Among these, the biggest highlight is chicken, with a growth of 13% in production value. The two activities with the worst results are milk and eggs, both with a reduction in VBP.
Products with reduced revenue are coffee (23.8%), rice (7.5%), sugarcane (5.4%), cassava (9.6%), soybeans (13.6%) and grapes (5.4%). The largest absolute reduction occurred in soybeans, in the order of R$20 billion. “There are few products, but they have a huge impact on the value of production”, observes the coordinator. “These have been negatively affecting the result of the agricultural GDP (Gross Domestic Product), as the IBGE presented in the National Accounts when releasing the data for the first quarter.
Prices have been higher than last year for several products. This has been happening mainly with peanuts, bananas, potatoes, onions, beans, oranges and tomatoes. With the exception of peanuts and oranges, the price variations for the others are mainly determined by seasonality.
