MG leads increase in national bean production

Minas Gerais was a national highlight in the 2022/2023 bean harvest. The good performance of the state's crops resulted in a harvest of 556,7 thousand tons, 14,8% higher than in the 2021/2022 period, when 484,9 thousand tons were harvested. The last national bean harvest recorded an increase of 1,7%, with a total of 3,04 million tons.

The data comes from the 12th Grain Harvest Survey, released by the National Supply Company (Conab). Conab's field survey, carried out in August, found that approximately 80% of the 3rd bean crop in Minas Gerais had already been harvested and confirmed the crop's good performance.

The crop monitoring manager at Emater-MG, Thiago Emmanuel de Almeida, explains that the increase in average productivity was decisive for the good performance of bean crops in Minas Gerais, together with the favorable weather conditions for the crop, both in the 1st and of the second crop of the legume.

"Furthermore, as the Conab survey shows, in the 2nd harvest an increase in planted area was observed in relation to the 2021/2022 harvest, which also contributed to the good result of the State's total production", he stated.

Drop in prices

The greater availability of beans had an impact on product prices in Minas Gerais. According to the price survey received by producers, carried out weekly by Emater-MG, a 60-kilo bag of carioquinha beans was sold for R$ 200,00 in the Central region of the State, between September 14th and 20th. In the same period of 2022, the bag was traded at R$320,00. The drop in prices, compared to last year, was 37,5%.

"This price reduction occurred mainly due to two factors. The first would be that the climatic conditions were favorable for the cultivation of the three crops, which resulted in an increase in average productivity, leading to an increase in the State's total production. The second factor would be that demand (retail market) has not yet been able to absorb the volumes harvested in the 2nd and 3rd harvest. Basically, what happens is the law of supply and demand. In other words, with a greater volume of product stored, the price tends to reduce", analyzes Thiago Emmanuel de Almeida, from Emater-MG.

Record grain harvest

Grain production in the 2022/23 Brazilian harvest reached a new record, with 322,8 million tons, according to the last survey of the year carried out by Conab. The volume represents an increase of 18,4% over the previous harvest. There was an increase both in the planted area, which reached 78,5 million hectares, and in average productivity, which went from 3.656 kilos per hectare, in the 2021/2022 period, to 4.111 kilos per hectare. In Minas Gerais, total grain production increased 11,2%.