Dryness to cut 50pc of wheat yields in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES: Argentina's 2020/21 wheat yields could fall as much as 50% in northern and central parts of the country's farm belt due to dryness exacerbated by unusually strong frosts and crop-eating pests, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said on Thursday.

Since May, wide swathes of the Pampas grains belt have had below-normal rainfall, the exchange said in its weekly crop report. The estimated 6.5 million hectares that were planted with wheat this season was reduced from an original forecast of 6.8 million hectares as growers grew nervous about the dryness.

"Estimates of potential yield losses range between 20% and 50%, in northeastern and northwestern farm areas, and in the province of Cordoba," the report said, adding that affected areas account for more than 25% of this year's wheat plantings.

"We do not rule out the threat that some fields may simply be abandoned due to poor weather conditions," it said.