SAO PAULO: The planting of Brazil’s 2021/22 soyabean crop has reached about 85% of the estimated area, with fieldwork nearly complete in major producing states Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, data provided by two agribusiness consultancies showed on Monday.

Safras & Mercado said sowing advanced 6.6 percentage points from last week to 84.2% of the forecast area, ahead of the historical average (77.2%) and the same part of 2020/21 (74.1%).

The consultancy said planting in Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul reached 99% of the estimated area, while farmers in Parana - another major grain-producing state - have sown 97% of their soyabean crop.

AgRural, another consultancy, estimated Brazil has planted 86% of its soyabean crop, up 8 points from the previous week and higher than the 81% planted at the same point in 2020/21.

“Fieldwork is virtually concluded in Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, and really close to the end in Parana, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Goias and Rondonia,” AgRural said in a statement.

The consultancy said sowing in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul and in the northern four-state region known as Matopiba was not evenly distributed and depended on showers, which are still in irregular patterns.

For the country’s first 2021/22 corn crop, AgRural said planting reached 91% of the forecast area in the center-south region, compared with 85% in the previous week and the same 91% a year earlier.

“Last week’s rain brought some relief to both soyabean and first corn in Rio Grande do Sul. Volumes, however, were insufficient for the cereal and farmers are already reporting potential losses in areas planted in September,” AgRural said.