MYANMAR (18 February)
Growing conditions have been generally satisfactory for both the main season rice crop harvested until December last year and for the secondary crop currently in the ground and due for harvest from mid-March. The current estimate for the aggregate paddy production in 2002/03 is put at some 21.8 million tonnes (13.9 million tonnes of milled rice) similar to the year before. Output from the wheat and coarse grains (mostly maize) crops, currently being harvested, is estimated at 90 000 tonnes and 540 000 tonnes, respectively, unchanged from last year. Reflecting steady increases in paddy production in the last several years, the country has re-entered the world market as a major rice exporter. Exports in 2002 are estimated at about 1 million tonnes.