Expected decrease of corn production in Argentina in 2001 / 02

Introduction: on January 15, according to the U.S Department of agriculture, Argentina's corn output in 2001 / 02 was 11.5 million tons, a decrease of 1 million tons, or 8 percentage points, compared with last month's forecast, a decrease of 26 percentage points Corn planting area is predicted to be 2.15 million hectares, 150000 hectares less than last month's forecast, 22 percentage points lower than last year The yield per hectare is predicted to be 5.35 tons, slightly lower than the average Due to the delay of corn planting in Rio Cuarto's main corn planting area, the unit yield is expected to decrease In Argentina, the per unit yield of corn has increased significantly in the past 10 years, with a growth trend of 5.87 tons per hectare over the past 10 years This is the first time since 1996 / 97 that the per unit yield is expected to be below the growth trend and below average Corn planting in the northern part of Buenos Aires has been greatly delayed, accounting for 10% of the national corn planting area Corn production in this area is usually higher than the average In October, the rainfall in the main corn growing areas in central Argentina was as high as 12 inches (300 ml), resulting in floods in some areas and excessive soil moisture content In November, rainfall continued, and field work progressed in the interval of rainfall The heavy rain delayed the sowing and the sowing in Pehuajo province In the western part of the province, the weather in riocado is too dry for the rest of the land to be sown Recent rainfall in Cordoba has eased the drought in the topsoil, but planting corn is too late Riocado's corn planting area accounts for 18% of the national corn planting area.