FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT

• The 2012 aggregate rice production forecast at record level

• Rice exports expected to be slightly above the high levels of 2011

The 2012 rice production forecast at record level

Harvesting of the 2012 first (spring) paddy crop season, which represents about 50 percent of the aggregate national output, was completed in May. According to remote sense analysis, vegetation conditions for crops during the growing period (December-January) in the main producing regions (2, 5 and 6) were generally normal. The output is estimated at about 320 000 tonnes, slightly above the bumper harvest of the same season last year. The good production is mainly the result of higher yields, as farmers benefited from improved seed varieties and from improvements in drainage and irrigation systems. Despite of heavy rains and floods in late January and early February, damages to crops were not severe at national level, as a result of flood-control systems and other measures adopted by the Government to minimize losses.

Planting of the 2012 second (autumn) paddy crop season was completed in June under satisfactory weather and providing favourable growing conditions in the reminder of the season, a normal crop is anticipated. Early forecast point to a 2012 aggregate rice production (autumn and spring crops) of about 634 000 tonnes, 3 percent higher than the bumper crop of 2011, reflecting higher plantings and yields . The Government is promoting rice cultivation in the Savannah lands as an alternative to coastal areas, where most of the rice is currently cultivated but which have been increasingly affected by flooding.

The country exports about half of the total rice output and exports are forecast at around 310 000 tonnes in 2012/13 marketing year (January/December), 3 percent above the high levels of the past year.