Brazil grain harvest expected to rise 8.6%

The Brazilian government says the country's next grain harvest is expected to be nearly nine per cent higher than the previous one.

The agriculture ministry says in a Wednesday statement that Brazil's 2010-2011 harvest is forecast to come in at 162 million tons. That's 8.6 per cent higher than the 2009-2010 harvest of 149 million tons.

The statement says the planted area increased 4.4 per cent to 49.5 million hectares, or 122 million acres.

The statement says that soybeans, corn, cotton, beans and rice are expected to post the biggest gains.

Brazil's soybean crop is expected to come in at 75 million tons, or nine per cent higher than in the previous period. Brazil is the world's largest soy producer after the United States.

- AP