High temperatures should favor wheat cultivation in southern Brazil in the coming days

Soil moisture remained at a satisfactory level in the wheat zone in almost the entire southern region of the country, responsible for around 87% of Brazil's cereal production. Only the West and North of Paraná had lower humidity and temperatures slightly above normal in the second half of July.

According to remote sensing carried out by EarthDaily Agro, an agricultural monitoring company using satellite images, although the drought has persisted in most of Brazil, especially in the center of the country, the southern region has received some rain. In Santa Catarina, accumulated precipitation exceeded 30 millimeters in the last ten days. However, compared to the historical average, rainfall was below normal in almost all states.

Felippe Reis, crop analyst at EarthDaily Agro, points out that, in the extreme south of the country, the average minimum temperature was close to 0°C, reaching 1,8°C. Forecasts indicate low temperatures, with minimums below 5°C, in the coming days. “Based on the analysis of European and American models, we know that rainfall will be below average in most of the country. We will only have above-average rain in Rio Grande do Sul”, comments Felippe.

In the wheat zone, soil moisture should decrease significantly in the north of Paraná and São Paulo until August 10th. These regions already have below-average soil moisture. However, European (ECMWF) and American (GFS) climate models indicate temperatures ranging from 2°C to 7°C above normal, a favorable situation for the development of wheat plantations.

In Rio Grande do Sul, vegetation indices (NDVI) remain below average, but plants show good development, favored by above-average soil moisture.

In the South and East of Paraná, the NDVI of wheat did not show significant evolution in the last few days. In the West and North regions of the state, vegetation index conditions remain poor, with NDVI well below average and low soil humidity.