AUSTRALIA (18 September)
Widespread rains throughout most of the main grain growing areas have improved prospects for the developing 2003 winter grain crops. Although winter grain sowing was delayed in many areas because of the late arrival of pre-sowing rains, a late spurt of planting activity brought the final winter grain area to about 19.4 million hectares, 9 percent more than the previous season. Assuming that rainfall will be about average for the remainder of the growing season, wheat output in 2003 is now forecast to reach 24 million tonnes, more than two-and-a-half times the previous season’s drought-shrunken crop. Production of barley is also expected to more than double to 7.3 million tonnes. Output of the 2003 summer crop harvest dropped sharply because of reduced irrigation supplies resulting from last year’s drought. Sorghum and maize outputs were just about half of the previous year’s level at some 1.4 million tonnes, while the paddy crop was down 70 percent at a near-record low of just 391 000 tonnes.