Nov 23, 2009
Cotton Becoming An Alternative To Corn For Safrinha Production
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The introduction of soybean rust into Brazil nearly a decade ago caused farmers in central Brazil to cancel their plans for year-round soybean production and to rethink their cropping plans for the safrinha crop production. Traditionally, corn played the roll as the principal safrinha crop, but sorghum is now gaining in acreage and cotton is also being planted as a second crop. Improved cotton prices, coupled with depressed domestic corn prices, is making cotton an attractive alternative to corn. The introduction of early maturing cotton varieties also is an important factor in increased cotton production.
In Mato Grosso for example, cotton is traditionally planted during December and it would be the only crop grown in that field during the growing season. That is changing with the increased usage of early maturing soybeans and early maturing cotton varieties. What farmers are doing now is planting an early maturing soybean variety in September and then harvesting those soybeans in January. They then plant a second crop of cotton after the soybeans are harvested.
There are several advantages of doing it this way. Not only does the farmer produce two crops per year in the same field, the second crop of cotton is cheaper to grow than the traditional types of cotton. The early maturing cotton varieties are in the field for a shorter period of time and thus require fewer insecticide applications, which can mean a savings of up to 20% in production costs.
Early maturing cotton varieties can now be planted as late as February in Mato Grosso. This late planting requires an adjustment to their production practices. If the cotton is planted in December, farmers would normally use a row spacing of 90 centimeters (36 inches), if the crop is planted in January they would use a row spacing of 76 centimeters (30 inches), and if the cotton is planted in February, the row spacing would drop to 45 centimeters (18 inches). Farmers in Mato Grosso last year planted approximately 5,000 hectares of the early maturing cotton. That is expected to increase to 40,000 hectares during the 2009-10 growing season.
At the start of the growing season, it was estimated that the 2009-10 cotton acreage in Brazil would fall compared to 2008-09, but those estimates are now being revised upwards. Current estimates are that cotton acreage could increase slightly over last year and total production could reach 1.3 million tons compared to 1.2 million tons last year. Domestic demand for cotton is estimated at 0.85 to 1.05 million tons. During the last five years, the cotton acreage on Brazil declined approximately 30%, but with the improved international prices, the Brazilian cotton acreage is expected to reverse that trend and once again start to expand.