Global commodity production, area and yield estimates <br> for Grains, Oilseeds and Cotton. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/ Mon, Dec 15 2008 13:44:08 Mon, Dec 15 2008 13:44:08 http://www.fas.usda.gov/pecad/images/2005_h1.png http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/ OGA - Office of Global Analysis 62 72 The Middle East suffered a severe region-wide drought last year (2008/09 MY), with substantial crop losses reported from western Turkey and Israel through eastern Iran. In most areas the exceedingly dry weather pattern lasted from planting time in September through harvest in June, resulting in one of the worst agricultural droughts in recent decades. Total regional wheat production declined approximately 7.4 million tons or 19 percent. The only countries to escape significant year-to-year reductions in grain output were Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Saudi Arabia's wheat crop declined modestly owing to planned reductions in sown area (not drought), whereas Turkey experienced an even more severe drought in 2007/08 and had crop yields actually recover slightly in 2008/09. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/12/mideast Dec 15, 2008 Afghanistan suffered a severe drought last year which decimated its 2008/09 winter grain crop and caused an acute food and feed-grain shortage throughout much of the country. Wheat production is estimated by USDA to have fallen 55 percent from the previous year, while barley production is estimated to have declined 67 percent. This major shortfall in grain production was exacerbated by disruptions in regional grain trade (export bans) and increasing conflict in major transport corridors along the Pakistani border. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/12/Afghanistan Dec 11, 2008 The crop travel was conducted in Victoria, New South Wales, and southern Queensland (Figure 1). We covered a total of roughly 1300 miles starting from Melbourne in Victoria, through the southern part of the Australian wheat belt to Mildura in north-west Victoria. We continued through Hillston, Wagga Wagga, to Canberra in New South Wales (Figure 2). We also travelled to southern Queensland, from Brisbane to Toowoomba and Darby. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/11/australia_25Nov2008 Nov 25, 2008 USDA Office of Global Analysis (OGA) of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) performed a mid-season crop assessment and spatial model validation survey in Ethiopia from October 8-17, 2008, with personnel from USAID FEWS-NET project, the United Nation's Word Food Program (WFP), and the European Commission Monitoring of Agriculture with Remote Sensing (MARS) program of the Joint Research Centre (JRC). This was the first known crop assessment tour between personnel from USDA/FAS, FEWS-NET, WFP and MARS. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/11/eth_25nov2008 Nov 25, 2008 Current conditions and early prospects for 2009/10 winter grains in Ukraine are reasonably good as planting nears completion. Sown area has surpassed the Ministry of Agriculture's target despite rain-related planting delays in mid-September, and planting is reportedly ahead of last year's pace. Weather and soil-moisture conditions are generally favorable despite recent dryness. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/11/ukr_18nov2008/index.htm Nov 19, 2008 The Middle East and Central Asia regions are currently in the grip of one of the worst droughts in recent history. Widespread failure of rain-fed grain crops occurred in 2008/09, as well as sizable declines in irrigated crop area and yield. Food grain production dropped to some of the lowest levels in decades, spurring governments to enact grain export bans and resulting in abnormally large region-wide grain imports. Should drought continue into the 2009/10 growing season which begins in October, even greater declines in grain production will occur as planted area for both rain-fed and irrigated crops will be severely restricted. A second year of severely reduced grain harvests would imply significantly increased regional grain import requirements as well as posing substantial threats to internal security in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Afghanistan is the most vulnerable, owing to its lack of financial resources for large-scale grain imports and lack of institutional expertise to plan and execute such imports. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/09/mideast_cenasia_drought Sep 16, 2008 USDA's August forecast for Kenya's 2008/09 corn production is 2.55 million tons, down 0.4 million tons from last year and below the 5-year average of 2.7 million tons. Area is estimated at 1.6 million hectares, down 0.1 million hectares from last year due to insecurity caused by Post-Election Violence (PEV) from January-April this year. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/09/kenya Sep 04, 2008 During early July members of USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) traveled through Poland meeting with various agriculture industry professionals, and toured farms, and assessed crop conditions. This report is a summary of the trip, including observations and photographs, and estimates from USDA's August World Agriculture Supply and Demand release. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/08/Poland_CropTravel Aug 29, 2008 Analysts from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) in Washington, with the U.S. agricultural attache in Moscow, conducted July crop-assessment travel in the Siberian District of Russia to assess 2008/09 wheat production prospects and other crop-production issues. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/08/rs_20Aug2008 Aug 21, 2008 Well-below normal rainfall and winter snowfall across the majority of Afghanistan during late 2007 and early 2008 have led to the worst drought conditions in the past 10 years. Widespread losses of rainfed wheat crops have been observed by international non-governmental organization (NGO) officials across the country's important northern and western growing regions, while the government of Afghanistan has also reported that irrigated crop yields have fallen significantly this year. Owing to the severity of current conditions and the breadth of areas impacted, wheat production in 2008/09 is forecast by USDA at 1.5 million tons, down 2.3 million or 60 percent from last year. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/08/Afghanistan Drought Aug 12, 2008 The current USDA yield estimate is based chiefly on the analysis of satellite imagery: satellite-derived vegetative indices such as the normalized-difference vegetation index (NDVI) have proven to be a reasonably reliable indicator of wheat yield in both Ukraine and the neighboring winter-wheat region of southern Russia. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/06/ukr_24june2008 Jun 24, 2008 Continuing improvement in producer and business management practices, transportation, and storage could enhance competitiveness of Argentina over the United States, particularly in soybean production. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/06/Argentina_Summary Jun 18, 2008 After one of the worst droughts in recent years, the corn crop in southeastern Europe is expected to rebound sharply in 2008/09. Corn planting in Europe has finished and plants are emerged with 4 - 8 leaves (Hanway Growth Stage Model). The crop has experienced favorable conditions throughout Europe because of average to above-average rainfall and mild spring temperatures. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/06/EU_Corn Jun 13, 2008 Tropical cyclone Nargis struck the heart of Burma's rice growing region in the low-lying Ayeyarwady delta on May 2nd, causing extensive damage to agricultural lands, infrastructure, livestock, and stored food grains. A 12-foot storm surge (tidal wave) accompanied the cyclone, reportedly penetrated 25-30 miles inland along the storms path. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/06/Burma_rice_jun08 Jun 10, 2008 Explosive growth of soybeans is changing the face of the country in Paraguay. Paraguay comprises a total of 40.6 million hectares (over 100 million acres) of land with one-fifth of the area (a little over 8 million hectares or 20 million acres) set as highly suitable for crop production, but much more is being tilled. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/05/Paraguay May 15, 2008 Cyclone Nargis, a category-3 tropical storm, struck the low-lying and heavily populated Burmese coastline on May 2nd with winds of 132 miles per hour. The storm had sufficient strength to propagate a 12 foot tall sea wave (storm surge) that inundated vast areas of farmland in at least 4 major rice producing Divisions (provinces). http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/05/Burma_Cyclone_Nargis_Rice_Impact.htm May 15, 2008 The 2007/08 crop, planted in November 2007, with harvest completed by May 2008 is forecast at 5.5 million tons, down 0.3 million or 5 percent from last year. Foreign Agricultural Service agricultural analysts from Washington, DC and New Delhi traveled through areas of central and western regions of India, which are important rabi (winter season) crop production regions. FAS staff assessed crop conditions and met with industry and government officials in the agricultural states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashra and Rajasthan. Numerous observations of the crop were made in these important agricultural states of India. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/05/IndiaRapeseed May 14, 2008 Analysts from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service in Washington and the office of the U.S. agricultural attache in Kiev conducted April crop-assessment travel in central, eastern, and southern Ukraine to assess 2008/09 crop production prospects and related issues. The team met with agricultural officials, independent commodity analysts, and directors of agricultural enterprises who provided extensive information on a variety of key issues. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/05/ukr_15may2008/ukr_15may2008.htm May 14, 2008 Syria, like its neighbor Iraq, has been experiencing a serious drought during the past 8 months. Drought stress in 2008/09, which was exacerbated by abnormally hot spring temperatures, is expected to cause significant losses to the nations winter grain crops. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/05/Syria_may2008.htm May 09, 2008 Iraq has been experiencing one of the worst droughts in the past 10 years, with total wheat and barley production in 2008/09 expected to decline 51 percent compared to last year. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/05/Iraq_may2008.htm May 09, 2008 Iran had experienced a more favorable early season rainfall situation than its drought-plagued neighbors of Iraq and Syria, but conditions rapidly deteriorated in February, March, and April 2008. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/05/Iran_may2008.htm May 09, 2008 FAS-Washington and Brasilia personnel performed a crop assessment tour from February 15-March 5, 2008 in southern and center-west Brazil, as indicated in Figure 1, and the survey team transected the main grain and soybean belts in Mato Grosso and Parana states. Many producers were beginning to plant the second or safrinha crop in both Mato Grosso and Parana states where double-cropping is possible. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/04/Brazil Apr 15, 2008 China's worst snowstorms in nearly 50 years have brought rain, sleet, wet snow and sharply colder temperatures to most of eastern and central China, including a majority of China's winter wheat and rapeseed production areas. The snow, which arrived after January 10, covered all of the North China Plain except for Beijing, northern Shandong and northern Hebei, and extended from Inner Mongolia in the north to Guizhou in the south. http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2008/02/MassiveSnowStorm.htm Feb 01, 2008