The outlook for the 1997 grain (cereal and pulse) harvest has deteriorated somewhat but remain overall satisfactory. Heavy rains and high winds in June have caused loss of life, considerable damage to infrastructure and localized damage to crops on 70 000 hectares. On the positive side, the area sown to winter and spring grains has increased marginally. Growing conditions until late June have been mostly beneficial with rainy weather providing good moisture reserves for spring crop development but drier weather is now urgently needed to facilitate the harvest. The availability of fertilizer and other agro-chemicals, although better than last year, continues to constrain yields. On the negative side, harvesting losses could increase this year as grain has been flattened and the availability of operational harvesting machinery remains a major constraint. Until further information becomes available, FAO continues to forecast the 1997 grain harvest at about 6.3 million tons, compared to 6 million tons last year.