AZERBAIJAN (2 June)
Prospects for this year’s crops are favourable despite some damage caused by early spring floods. Aggregate cereal harvest is now estimated at about 2.3 million tonnes, which is some 140 000 tonnes lower than the highly improved harvest of 2002. Azerbaijan continues to plant record areas with cereals in a drive to achieve food self sufficiency. The estimated aggregate cereal harvest includes some 1.8 million tonnes of wheat, 242 000 tonnes of barley and 150 000 tonnes of maize. Aggregate cereal utilization is estimated at about 3.5 million tonnes and the import requirement of about 574 000 tonnes will be mostly commercially procured.