The United Nations said in a recent statement that global production of rough rice, a staple for over half the world’s population, will rise to 70 million metric tons this year. This record high comes as harvests in India, the Philippines, and the rest of Asia recover from drought.
Rice output will increase 4% from 680 million tons in 2009, as rice production in India, the world’s second largest grower and consumer of rice, is set to increase by 15% to 151 million tons. This data is according the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) e-mail report.
“The chances of El Nino conditions dissipating over the coming months have improved, which would support a return to more normal weather conditions. This to the benefit of still to be planted crops,” said FOA, “India is anticipated to drive much of the production upturn in the region.”
Increased global rice output might help extend a slump in prices, as it eliminates the risk that India may turn to the overseas market to domestic demand of rice. Rough rice futures hiked to last year’s high of $16.27 per 100 pounds in Chicago in part because of speculation that India may become a net importer of rice for the first time in twenty years.
“Greater availability of supplies from the harvesting of the 2009 secondary crop in the northern hemisphere and the 2010 main crops south of the equator could give grounds for further price declines,” quoted FOA.
Rice production in the Philippines, the world’s largest rice importer, might expand by 9% to 17.4 million tons, down from the disappointing 2009 season, as the Philippine government provides seed subsidies to farmers, and the European Union offers a $13.5 million agriculture assistance program, said the FOA.
The Philippines can increase its rice yield up to 4 tons per hectare, plant its main crop twice a year and attain a 20-percent rice self-sufficiency by 2011 in only 1,300 hectares of land.
While farmers can increase their yields by double cropping – it’s going to take a lot of hard work said, Ronilo A. Beronio, head of the Philippine Rice Research Institute, a government research and entrepreneurial institution.
“We have demonstrated that the Philippine rice production system works,” he said.
One of the main issues in Philippine rice production is that of problematic drainage, which making the land hard to dry out. Because there are toxicities in the water and land, the drainage issue is exacerbated. “The soil is acidic, salty, full of sulphur, and deficient in nutrients,” Beronio said.
