Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Sugar-cane growers in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state, which accounts for more than half the country’s output, are seeing “very deficient growth” in the newly planted crop, industry researcher Datagro Ltd. said.

“Significant failures in sprouting” of the cane crop is evident, Datagro said today in an e-mailed report.

Brazil is the world’s biggest producer and exporter of sugar. Latin America’s largest economy accounts for about 54 percent of global exports, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

--Editors: Dale Crofts, Robin Saponar

To contact the reporter on this story: Lucia Kassai in Sao Paulo at lkassai@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net