Vietnam, Thai, Cambodia, India rice outputs forecast to marginally fall: FAO

Rice outputs in Vietnam, Thailand, India, and Cambodia are predicted to fall slightly this year but stay above five-year averages in the latter three, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

In a quarterly report released in Rome Tuesday, the FAO forecasts Vietnam’s output at 42.8 million tons this year, down from 43.9 million tons last year and below the 2017-2021 average of 43.4 million.

Thailand’s production is predicted at 32.8 million tons this year, down from 33.2 million tons last year and above the five-year average of 31.8 million.

The UN agency puts India’s rice output estimation at 187 million tons this year, down from 195.4 million in 2021 but above the five-year average of almost 181 million tons.

The figures for Cambodia are 11.5 million tons, 11.7 million, and 11.1 million, respectively.

Elsewhere in Asia, the FAO predicts below-average production in North Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka “mainly due to limited availability and high prices of agricultural inputs”, as well as in Bhutan, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea. But above-average output is forecast for Bangladesh and mainland China, like for India.

The agency expects mainland China’s rice output at 213.3 million tons, slightly higher than 212.8 million tons last year, also higher than the five-year average of 211.8 million.

For maize, the UN agency forecast “bumper outputs” in Bangladesh, mainland China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. “By contrast, maize production is forecast at a below-average level in Vietnam due to low plantings, as farmers shifted to alternative and more profitable crops,” the FAO report notes.