ReliefWeb

FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT

• Wheat output in 2019 estimated at above-average level

• Cereal import requirements in 2019/20 forecast below the average volume

• Procurement price of wheat doubled in January

Wheat output in 2019 estimated at above-average level

Harvesting of the 2019 wheat crops was completed by mid‑August under favourable weather conditions. Production of wheat is estimated at the bumper level of 1.6 million tonnes, 30 percent above average due to adequate and well-distributed precipitations during the growing period, which boosted yields. The 2019 aggregate cereal production is forecast at 1.8 million tonnes, about 24 percent above the five-year average.

Planting of the 2020 winter wheat crops is ongoing and it is expected to finalize by mid‑November over an area officially set at below-average 690 000 hectares. The contraction in wheat plantings is reported to be in favour of more profitable cotton cultivation.

Cereal import requirements in 2019/20 forecast below the average volume

Total cereal import requirements for the 2019/20 marketing year (July/June) are forecast at 183 000 tonnes, well below the record level reached in 2018/19 of 512 000 tonnes and about 10 percent below the five-year average. Wheat imports, mainly sourced from Kazakhstan, are forecast at below-average 150 000 tonnes, reflecting sufficient domestic supplies due to the 2019 above‑average production.

Procurement price of wheat doubled in January

Following a decision taken by the Government in early November 2018, the procurement price for the 2019 wheat crop, previously set at TMT 400 (USD 111) per tonne, was raised, in January 2019, to TMT 800 (USD 222) per tonne, with the aim of boosting domestic production and ensure remunerative prices to farmers ( see FPMA policy ).