UN prospects raise in crop production, utilization, trade and stocks - NaijaAgroNet

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The United Nations (UN) is seeing prospects for crop production, utilisation, trade and stocks, especially in the area of cereal supplies, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This was made known through its agency, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in its recent sectoral brief made available to NaijaAgroNet.

In the Cereal Supply and Demand Brief, FAO raised its forecast for world wheat production in 2023, now pegged at 786 million tonnes, which would be 1.3 percent below the 2022 level and the second largest outturn on record. Near-record sown areas are expected in Asia, while dry conditions are impacting North Africa and southern Europe.

In the southern hemisphere, the sown area and production prospects for maize in Brazil are expected at an all-time high, underpinned by robust export demand. Yield prospects are also good in South Africa, which may record its second-largest harvest in 2023. By contrast, prolonged dry conditions have adversely affected maize crops in Argentina.

FAO has also raised its forecast for world cereal production in 2022 to 2 777 million tonnes, now down only 1.2 percent from the previous year. World rice production in 2022/23 is now pegged at 516 million tonnes, 1.6 percent below the record reached in 2021/22 but an above-average harvest.

FAO’s updated forecast for world cereal utilization in 2022/23 now stands at 2 779 million tonnes, down 0.7 percent from 2021/22. World cereal stocks by the close of the 2022/2023 seasons are expected to decline by 0.3 percent from their opening levels to 850 million tonnes. The world cereal stocks-to-use ratio will likely dip from 30.7 percent in 2021/22 to 29.7 percent, still, nevertheless, indicating an overall comfortable global level.

World trade in cereals in 2022/23 is predicted to contract by 2.7 percent from the 2021/22 level to 469 million tonnes. The decline mostly reflects expectations of reduced trade of coarse grains, while global wheat trade is anticipated to increase. International trade in rice in 2023 is forecast to decline by 5.2 percent below the 2022 record high level.