NEPAL (10 February)
The harvesting of rice was completed in December 2003. The output of paddy rice is estimated at 4.16 million tonnes, similar to the previous year. The aggregate output of coarse grains in 2003 is estimated at 1.8 million tonnes, some 3.7 percent below the previous year’s bumper crop, but 1.1 percent above the average of the past five years.