Brasilia, Feb 9 (IANS): Brazil expects its 2022-2023 harvest season to yield up to 310.6 million tonnes of grain, 38.2 million tonnes more than the last harvest, the state-run National Supply Company (CONAB) said.

"The beginning of the corn and soybean harvest in the state of Rio Grande do Sul confirms the forecasts of a sharp drop in productivity due to the low rainfall," CONAB President Guilherme Ribeiro said in a report.

On the other hand, crops in the country's central western region, such as the Mato Grosso state, have benefited from the "favourable weather", Xinhua news agency quoted Ribeiro as saying.

Even so, CONAB estimates an increase in both cultivated area and productivity, which is expected to result in a harvest in the first crop of 26.5 million tonnes and the second crop of 95 million tonnes.

The harvest season for soybean, the country's main export product, has already begun in several regions of the South American country.

Regarding rice, CONAB forecasts that the output will reach 10.2 million tonnes.