Below-normal monsoon rains in India have slashed prospects for rice production in one of the world's largest consumers and exporters of the crop, the US Agriculture Department said on Wednesday, projecting India's rice crop would be the smallest in five years.
India's 2009/10 crop was pegged at 84 million tonnes, down 16 percent from last month's estimate and down 15 percent from last year, the USDA said in its monthly world crop supply and demand estimates. World rice production was cut by 15.5 million tonnes from last month's estimate to account for India's growing problems. That is down 11.4 million below the record 2008/09 crop, and nearly the same as 2007/08's production, the USDA said.
Global end stocks were projected at 84 million tonnes, down 11 percent from last month and 5 percent from last year, the USDA said. India has experienced its driest June in 83 years. While rainfall was near normal in July, India has received barely a third of normal rain this month, Indian officials said earlier this week.