Jan 28, 2019
Cotton Planting in Mato Grosso more than Half Complete
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The soybeans in Mato Grosso are 26% harvested, which has allowed farmers to start focusing on planting their 2018/19 cotton crop. The Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea) estimated that the 2018/19 cotton crop in the state is 53% planted, which represents an advance of 20% over the previous week and is about equal to the 5-year average.
Over 90% of the cotton in the state is safrinha production, which is planted after the soybeans are harvested. The major cotton producing region in the state is in western Mato Grosso where the rains generally tend to start earlier. Farmers plant early maturing soybeans (about 95 day maturity) as early as possible in order to allow enough time to plant their safrinha cotton. In western Mato Grosso, the soybeans are 38% harvested and the cotton is 72% planted.
Conab is forecasting the farmers in Mato Grosso will increase their cotton acreage by 23% in 2018/19 to 955,900 hectares. In the main cotton producing regions of the state, the January rainfall has been within the normal range resulting in good soil moisture. Embrapa estimates that the ideal rainfall during the growing season for cotton in Mato Grosso is in the range of 700 to 1,300 mm (28 to 52 inches). Currently, the rainfall forecast for the state should be within that range.
The state of Bahia is the second leading cotton producing state in Brazil and farmers in the state are expected to increase their cotton acreage by 26% in 2018/19 to 332,000 hectares.