The 1997 total cereal output is estimated at 11.5 million tons, 15 percent below the 1996 harvest, but above the average of the previous five years. Unseasonably wet and cold weather in June-July delayed the harvesting of coarse grain. The maize crop has been revised upward to 8.5 million tons. This is still 16 percent lower than last year’s record output but slightly above average. Recent heavy rains should benefit winter crops, now at germination stage.
The food situation in the marketing year 1997/98 is expected to remain satisfactory. The country may have up to 1 million tons of maize to export, with private traders authorized to export any amount of maize for the first year of full deregulation in several decades.