RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian government reduced its estimated production of cereals, legumes and oilseeds by 6 percent for this year, compared to that of 2017 when production hit 240.6 billion tons, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said Thursday.

This year's harvest is expected to reach 226.2 billion tons, according to data from IBGE.

Soy, corn and rice, the three main agricultural products, represent 92.8 percent of the total grain production and 87 percent of the total area harvested. The soy harvest is the only one of the three that will see an increase this year, which is projected to register 2 percent growth over last year.

The corn harvest will decline 18.6 percent while the rice harvest will decline 5.7 percent this year, according to IBGE.

Brazil is one of the major producers of grain in the world, whose agricultural production last year helped spur its economy to grow 1 percent and get out of the worst recession it experienced in 2015 and 2016.

Last year's economic growth was helped by the agricultural sector which grew 13 percent, its best gains since 1996.