Thailand, the world's biggest rice exporter, is expected to produce 22.9 million tonnes of paddy in its main 2010/11 crop as drought and then floods had caused only minor damage, an Agriculture Ministry official said on Friday.
"It's around 1.3 percent down from the previous forecast of 23.2 million tonnes of paddy. That will not cause any supply problem for rice trade next year," said Apichart Jongsakul, secretary-general of the Office of Agriculture Economy. He told Reuters that recent flooding had damaged rice fields in alluvial plains in central Thailand, but the rain had also helped boost water supply and should help produce good yields in fields in the north-east.
Thailand's main rice crop produces around 23 million tonnes of paddy each year and is harvested from November. After heavy rainfall in the rainy season this year, water in major reservoirs had risen significantly. "This means we will have ample water supply to produce another bumper second crop," Apichart said.
Thailand's second, smaller rice crop, grown mostly in well-irrigated areas in the centre of the country, is due to be sown in the early part of next year and harvesting could start in late June. Thailand produces between 5 million and 7 million tonnes of paddy in its smaller crop.
However, production surged to 8 million tonnes in 2008, when fears of food security pushed prices to a record high and encouraged farmers to grow more rice. Apichart said Thailand was likely to produce around 7 million tonnes of paddy in the 2010/11 second rice crop, pushing overall production in this coming season to around 30 million tonnes.
That would equate to around 18 million tonnes of milled rice, of which around 8-10 million tonnes would be for domestic consumption and the rest for export. Thailand exported 8.6 million tonnes of rice in 2009 and aims to export 8.5-9.5 million tonnes a year. Shipments hit a record high of 10 million tonnes in 2004 and then again in 2008, according to data from the Thai Rice Exporters Association.
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