SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO (1 August)
Cereal harvest tentatively estimated at about 6.9 million tonnes this year is almost 1.7 million tonnes down on the 2002/03 marketing year harvest. This year’s aggregate cereal harvest includes some 1.40 million tonnes of wheat and 5.0 million tonnes of maize, which compares with 2.24 million tonnes of wheat and 5.5 million tonnes of maize. Unusually cold weather and dry spring compromised much of the cereal and other industrial crops. Maize estimates are very tentative and much depends on weather conditions during summer. The Government has recently banned all exports of wheat and maize. Import requirement for the 2003/04 marketing year is estimated at 500 000 tonnes of wheat and 60 000 tonnes of rice and maize.
The internally displaced and vulnerable populations continue to require food and other assistance. Under the current Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation, which began in July 2002, WFP is currently assisting some 96 844 refugees in Serbia and Montenegro, while ICRC is assisting some 59 000 internally displaced persons (IDP).