The world is set to produce much more wheat, coarse grains and rice this year, assuming "more normal weather conditions than in 2012," according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) latest forecast released on Thursday. Production of coarse grains, including corn, is expected to set a new record at around 1.3 billion tonnes, a 9.3-percent gain on the previous record set in 2011, an FAO statement said.
Maize should account for about 960 million tonnes of that total, an increase of around 10 percent owing to output from the United States, "where maize plantings are forecast to reach their highest level since 1936."
An additional factor boosting production is that several major producing countries from the former Soviet Union are recovering from drought, the organisation said. Global wheat production is forecast to rise by 5.4 percent meanwhile and could come to "some 6 million tonnes short of the 2011 record level," at 695 million tonnes. Rice output should gain 3.3 percent to 497.7 million tonnes owing to large gains forecast in India and Indonesia.