BANGLADESH (12 September)
The main crop currently in the ground is the aman/monsoon paddy crop, planted in June/July for harvest from October on. Harvesting of the aus crop, the smallest paddy crop, has recently been completed. Heavy rains in June and July caused the loss of some 136 000 hectares of paddy land, but brought relief from the long heat-wave for the country. Current forecasts indicate that 2003 paddy production should be a bumper 39.6 million tonnes, some 13 percent above the average of the previous five years, as a result of the application of improved farming technology and planned irrigation.
The wheat output harvested earlier this year is estimated at 1.65 million tonnes, as compared to last year’s average production of 1.55 million tonnes and to an average of the past five years of 1.71 million tonnes. The 2003/04 wheat imports are likely to be 1.70 million tonnes, slightly above last year’s 1.66 million tonnes.