Overview
- The technical note released Monday by Embrapa Roraima and researchers says the early El Niño-driven drought has cut this year’s harvests in the state by as much as 50 percent.
- The soy crop in Roraima is expected to fall by about half this season, with local growers’ group Aprosoja-RR estimating roughly R$2 billion in losses.
- Roraima’s drought began unusually early because the state’s inverted rainy calendar left crops vulnerable in July during critical grain-filling stages.
- Satellite monitoring from INPE’s Programa Queimadas has recorded 2,035 heat and fire hotspots this year in Roraima, a 36.9 percent rise over 2025, while Rio Branco river stages near Boa Vista have dropped to about 63 centimeters.
- Climate models project a peak in El Niño intensity in November–December 2026, and state agencies including Cegec and Defesa Civil are issuing bulletins and advising water saving, suspension of use of fire and other protective measures for farmers and residents.