Phone app to forecast risk of crop failure in Brazil

Barter sales of farm equipment in Brazil rose 15% this summer as sales of tractors and harvester were hit by a credit squeeze. — 123rf.com

SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, Brazil: Despite years of experience, Charlei Sousa finds himself struggling to grow maize. A lack of rain took half his last crop, and he says uneven rainfall has for years become a worsening problem in his fields in Montes Claros. 

"We don't know anymore how and when to grow," said Sousa, a family farmer who plants about 30 hectares (74 acres) of maize in the north of Minas Gerais state, which lies within a semi-arid region of Brazil.