ARGENTINA (1 October)
Planting of the 2004/05 marketing year wheat crop has been completed at the end of August and harvest is due from late October/early November. Official estimates point to an area planted of 6.2 million hectares, with an increase of about 8.8 per cent compared to previous year and mainly concentrated in the south of the province of Buenos Aires. Dry weather conditions are affecting the wheat crop in north and centre of Santa Fe and Cordoba provinces, with likely negative impacts on yields. Early forecasts indicate an output of 14.8 million tones, slightly higher that the 14.5 million tonnes gathered last year. Planting of the 2004/05 maize crop, to be harvested from March 2005, started at the beginning of September and some delay is reported in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Santa Fe due to inadequate soil moisture. If rains resume, intended plantings are provisionally forecast at 3.1 million hectares, about 10 per cent above the area planted in 2003/04. The increase in the area planted is mainly the result of the more attractive price ratio between maize and soybean. Early unofficial estimates point to a maize crop production for 2004/05 of about 15.5 million tonnes, well above the previous year’s harvest of 13 million tonnes that was seriously affected by dry weather conditions. Planting of 2004/05 paddy crop has just started in the province of Entre Rios under normal weather conditions.