A.Rice
Explanation:
Country Highlights:
Indonesia
Rice area in 2015/16 is estimated at 12.2 million hectares, up 0.1 million hectares or 1 percent from last year. Milled rice production is forecast at 36.7 million tons, up 0.35 million tons or 1 percent from last year. Cultivated rice area has plateaued in the country, though the government is attempting to increase acreage in non-traditional locations (islands outside of Java). Area growth this year is expected to come from a shift of acreage in the 3rd growing season of 2014/15 being harvested later than normal, coinciding with the beginning of the 2015/16 crop year – not from expansion. Barring the development of drought conditions in 2016 related to the brewing El Niño, rice yields are currently forecast to increase marginally over last year. Indonesia is one of the few countries in the region that often experiences rainfall deficiencies during El Niño events. The first of three annual rice crops will be planted in October 2015 and harvested in the January-March period of 2016.
Thailand
Rice area in 2015/16 is estimated at 10.7 million hectares, up 0.4 million hectares or 4 percent from last year. Milled rice production is forecast at 19.8 million tons, up 1.0 million tons or 6 percent from last year. Rice yields are estimated at 2.81 tons per hectare, up 1.5 percent from last year. Rice area is expected to recover from last year, assuming that the summer rains will be adequate enough to replenish depleted reservoirs that support winter dry season rice cultivation. Government restrictions on irrigation supply during the recently completed 2014/15 dry season crop caused an unusual drop in total 2014/15 rice area. Recovery of much of this productive acreage is predicated on near-normal rainfall in 2015 and an easing of official government restrictions concerning distribution of irrigation supply during the 2015/16 dry season. Thailand has two rice growing seasons (wet and dry) with roughly 70 percent of total production occurring during the wet season.
Philippines
Rice area in 2015/16 is estimated at 4.8 million hectares, down about 1 percent from last year. Milled rice production is forecast at 12.4 million tons, up 0.2 million tons or 2 percent from last year. Rice yields are estimated at a record 4.08 tons per hectare, up 3.0 percent from last year. The government’s primary aim to become self-sufficient in rice production is beginning to bear fruit, as national irrigated area and the acreage sown to high-yielding varieties gradually increases. Both of these factors are boosting national average rice yields, which have increased a little over 1 percent annually over the past decade. The Philippines is another country that experiences periods of deficient rainfall or drought during El Niño events. It also experiences fewer typhoons and tropical storms during El Niño years, which can be both a positive and negative insofar as agriculture is concerned. Fewer storms mean less storm damage but also less rainfall. Barring the development of significant drought this year, trend rice yield is forecast - a record level.
Cambodia
Rice area in 2015/16 is estimated at 3.1 million hectares, up nearly 1 percent from last year. Milled rice production is forecast at a record 4.9 million tons, up 0.2 million tons or 4 percent from last year. Rice yields are estimated at a record 2.51 tons per hectare, up 3.0 percent from last year. Cambodian rice area has steadily expanded over the past two decades as farmland that was overgrown or disused since the war period of the 1970’s and 1980’s was gradually brought back into production. This process is expected to continue, with area increasing roughly 25,000 hectares in 2015/16. The country has some of the slowest growing rice yields in the region, owing to the extremely limited use of improved high-yielding varieties. Crop yields in 2015/16 are expected to improve to near-normal levels, compared to a disappointing 2014/15 season which had crop yields decline roughly 2 percent from drought.
Malaysia
Rice area in 2015/16 is estimated at 0.7 million hectares, up less than 1 percent from last year. Milled rice production is forecast at a record 1.8 million tons, up nearly 1 percent from last year. Rice yields are estimated at a record 4.04 tons per hectare, up less than 1 percent from last year. Area growth has been extremely limited in Malaysia for many years, as most producers are more interested in cash crops rather than food crops. The Malaysian government has been trying to encourage increased rice production in recent years through subsidies for crop inputs. Crop yields have increased an average of 2 percent per annum over the last decade, so these support programs have had some success. Marginal increases in both are and yield are forecast for 2015/16.
