Minister Manuel Sevilla explained that these improved forecasts are in response to increased rainfall in El Salvador.

“Increased rainfall during April means that weather phenomena ‘El Niño’, which causes droughts, could be losing strength earlier than anticipated”, reported Laprensagrafica.com.

Source: laprensagrafica.com

More on this topic

Basic Grains: Local Production Vs. Imports

October 2020

Although the volume of corn, beans, and rice harvested is projected to increase in El Salvador by 2020, producers' expectations are not encouraging, since prices have fallen to levels insufficient to cover costs due to the import of basic grains.

Forecasts by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) indicate that this year the country's corn harvest will grow by 11%, beans by 30% and rice by 20%.

The Basic Grain Market in Honduras

November 2017

In the last 16 years the amount of land cultivated with white corn has grown at an average annual rate of barely 1%, while in the case of beans, growth has been at an average annual rate of 6%.

From the executive summary of the report "Current situation of basic grains in Honduras", prepared by the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise: 

El Salvador 2014: Grain Exports Down 49%

February 2015

Drought was the main factor behind the drop of 49% in exports for 2014 of rice, beans and corn, compared to the previous year.

At the end of 2014 $6.5 billion in exports of grains were reported, ie, $6.4 million less than the $12.9 million recorded in 2013. Drought damaged about "... 2.6 million hundredweight of white corn and 86.107 hundredweight of red beans in the 2014 harvest."

El Salvador Faces Bean Shortage

October 2009

MAG is considering buying beans from Costa Rica and Venezuela, as crisis in Honduras and droughts in Nicaragua make it difficult to get it from them.

The country will have to import between 10% and 15% of the national demand, assured Manuel Sevilla, head of MAG, the Agriculture Ministry.