Drought has caused irrecoverable corn crop losses in some areas of Argentina despite the El Nino weather phenomenon which usually triggers heavy rains in South America, an analyst at the country's main grains exchange said. Argentina is the fourth largest exporter worldwide of the grain and farmers raced to plant more in recent weeks after the new, business-friendly government eliminated export taxes and quotas for corn.
However, a lack of rain and high temperatures in the north east of the province of Buenos Aires, the main agriculture district of the country, is threatening the corn harvest. "This zone is burning up," said Sofia Corina, an analyst at the Rosario exchange. "I've received reports of lost plots of corn and corn that has lost 50 percent of its yield." "This is completely unheard-of for a year of El Nino," she added.
El Nino is a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific that occurs every few years, triggering heavy rains and floods in South America and scorching weather in Asia and as far away as east Africa. Two weeks ago, the Rosario exchange estimated the corn harvest for 2015/16 would be 23.8 million tonnes, up from 20.2 million tonnes in the previous season, due to a larger planting area and higher yields.