The rains recorded in recent weeks have delayed the start of the 2025/26 cotton harvest in Mato Grosso, and have raised a warning sign for cotton farmers regarding fiber quality, according to the new weekly bulletin from the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea). As of last Friday (26), the cotton harvest in the state had reached only 0.36% of the planned area, a rate above that recorded in the same period of the previous harvest (0.21%), but 1.23 percentage points (pp) below the average of the last five years. The institute points out that this delay occurred due to rainfall recorded in certain regions of the state, associated with cold and humid weather. Last week, the polar air mass brought down temperatures in several cities, reaching 14.7°C in Rondonópolis and 17.9°C in Sorriso. This scenario led many producers to opt to postpone the start of the harvest. According to Imea's cotton analyst, Cintia Teixeira, the current situation demands attention from the sector. “Besides delaying the harvest, the rains can compromise fiber quality and increase the likelihood of boll rot in the lower parts of the plants, especially in more advanced areas,” she explains. “The reduction in rainfall in the coming days tends to favor the progress of the harvest and decrease the risks to fiber quality, especially in later-planted crops. This scenario is positive for the producer and may allow for an acceleration of fieldwork in the coming weeks,” Cintia emphasizes.
Record production and sales
Even with the delay in the start of the harvest, the outlook for the cotton crop in Mato Grosso remains positive. In its June report, Imea raised its productivity estimate to 304.02 arrobas per hectare, a 2.13% increase compared to the projection released in May, when the yield was estimated at 297.69 arrobas per hectare. With the positive revision in productivity, the estimate for seed cotton production was adjusted to 6.27 million tons, a new record for the crop in Mato Grosso and one of the largest volumes ever recorded by the state. For the 2025/26 crop, Mato Grosso producers have already negotiated 71.86% of the estimated production. However, the commercialization of the 2026/27 crop remains slower: by June, only 23.21% of the projected production for the next cycle had been negotiated in advance.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.