FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 09/98 - KAZAKHSTAN (3 September)

KAZAKHSTAN (3 September)

Harvesting of spring grains, particularly wheat, it underway. The area planted to cereals in 1998 is estimated at 13.3 million hectares, some 30 percent below the average for the previous five years. The fall is attributed to short supplies of fuel, seed and credit. Shortages of fertiliser, exacerbated by unusually hot, dry weather conditions in July have resulted in yield reductions. Crop failures were reported on almost 18 percent of the area planted to cereals. The 1998 cereal harvest is provisionally estimated at some 8.6 million tonnes against 12.3 million tons in 1997, and a sharp reduction in export availabilities can be expected for the next marketing year.

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