Photo: Collected
According to the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), world rice production for
the 2022-2023 season is forecast at 516 million tonnes, 1.6% below the previous
year's output. This is the lowest global production since the 2019-2020 season.
FAO has forecast world cereal
stocks at the end of the 2023 season to decline by 1.2% from their initial
levels to 844 million tonnes, due to a projected reduction in global stocks of
coarse grains and rice, offsetting an increase in wheat stocks. While production
is forecast to increase in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Uzbekistan, it
will be reduced in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, the European Union and Vietnam.
China is the world's largest rice
producer, harvesting 25% of global rice production. The country's total rice
production has increased in 20 years from 178 megatons to 213 megatons in 2021.
The increase in rice production is attributed to many factors, including an
increase in irrigated areas, high-yielding rice varieties, the use of agrochemicals,
etc.
Spain produces more than 720,000 tunes of rice per year, making it the largest rice producer in the European Union, behind Italy. In 2018, 78.6% of Spanish rice exports went to European Union countries, with a concentration in countries such as Belgium at 25.6% and the United Kingdom at 15.8%. Andalusia produces more than a third of the country's rice production. However, last year's droughts caused production to decline. In 2023, if it does not rain in April and May, rice harvests could be severely depleted throughout the peninsula.
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