FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 11/99 - MONGOLIA* (2 November)
In addition to reforms in the agriculture sector, which have meant that former state farms have been disbanded and sold, problems of economic transition continue to constrain supplies of essential inputs to agriculture. 1999 production of the main staple, wheat, was further disrupted by high temperatures and drought, over a two week period, in July. Wheat production is therefore put at around 190 000 tonnes, similar to last year's reduced crop. Compared to 1990, before the transition programme from a centrally planned to a market economy, domestic wheat production this year would be less than half, around 42 percent. In addition there may be shortage of seed for next year's planting. Areas planted this year included 273 300 hectares of wheat, 8 300 hectares of potatoes, 5 500 hectares of other vegetables. An estimated 40 percent of annual demand for wheat is domestically met and the rest imported. Around 60 000 tonnes of food aid were pledged to the country this year as assistance to vulnerable groups.
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