PADDY PRODUCTION WORLDWIDE IN 2016

Asia Due to excessive rainfall in China, paddy production dropped in 2016 compared to 2015. There was also yield loss in South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.

However, the yield loss in the aforementioned countries was compensated by the yield increase in the Philippines, Thailand, India, Cambodia, Taiwan, Iran, Iraq, Japan, North Korea, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan.

Africa 2016 saw the highest yield in a long time in Africa with 30.2 tons.

The increased yield in Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Egypt compensated for the decrease in Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mauretania, and Zambia due to delayed and weak rainfall.

America Inconvenient weather conditions and low prices in South America led to decrease in paddy production in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela. It resulted in the lowest crop yield in six years in the continent with 26.1 million tons.

 There was no drop in yield in North America despite floods in in August, resulting in a record 10.6 million tons of yield.

Europe There was no change between yield obtained in 2016 and 2015 in Europe. However, there was some increase in Russia. Italy had high yield in paddy production. However, inconvenient weather conditions led to decrease in yield in Spain and Portugal. Other EU countries such as Bulgaria, Romania, France, and Greece also saw decrease in yield.

PADDY CULTIVATION AREA, PRODUCTION, AND YIELD IN THE WORLD The cultivation area for paddy worldwide has gone over 160 million hectares in recent years. Paddy production is around 740 million tons. Paddy yield is approximately 450 kilos per decare. The increase in cultivation area and yield has been influential in the increase in paddy production. Table-1 shows paddy cultivation area, production, and yield worldwide in recent years.

RICE CONSUMPTION PARAMETERS WORLDWIDE Table-2 shows parameters of rice consumed worldwide. 390 million tons of paddy produced across the world is used as human food. 18 million is used for feeding animals and 79 million is used for other purposes. 40 million tons of paddy is used for commerce while 170 million is stored.

Major Rice Exporters Chart-1 shows the export numbers of top five rice exporters in the world. The top exporter across the world until 2011 was Thailand which supplied a third of the rice traded worldwide. However, India has claimed the top of the list in recent years which is demonstrated better in the chart.

Export Prices of Several Major Rice Exporters Table-3 shows rice export prices in recent years for major rice exporters. As can be seen in the table, there has been a continuous drop in rice prices worldwide starting in 2008. When we compare the price of Osmancık rice which has the most cultivation area in Turkey to its biggest competitor on the market, medium-grained California rice, they both had a drop in price. While the price of California rice is 650 US Dollars in 2016, Osmancık rice is around 930 Dollars. When we add the 45 percent tariff to American California rice, it adds up to 940 Dollars which does not include transportation and other expenses. In this way, the tariff protects the locally-produced Osmancık rice.

Import Numbers of Major Rice Importers China, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Iraq, and Bangladesh have been the top five importers in the world in recent years, which is shown in Chart-2.

TURKEY’S PADDY PRODUCTION, IMPORT, AND EXPORT IN 2016

PADDY PRODUCTION Table-4 shows the cultivation area, production, and yield for paddy in Turkey in recent years. The cultivation area for paddy has gone over 100 million hectares in Turkey in the last few years. Paddy production has been around 800-900 thousand tons. Paddy yield per decare is around 800 kilos.

Turkey’s Rice Export and Import Numbers Table-5 shows the amount of rice imported by Turkey in recent years and the amount paid for imports. As can be seen, Turkey still pays a significant amount for rice importation. In consideration of Turkey’s rice consumption data given in Table-6, the coverage ratio of domestic consumption for locally produced rice in Turkey has been around 80 percent on average in the last few years. For that reason, Turkey has to import around 100 to 150 thousand tons of rice per year.

Evaluation of Turkey’s Paddy Season in 2016 There were dry, arid, and sunny weather conditions during paddy sowing season in 2016 in Turkey. Tall and leafed types produced higher yield compared to previous years under dry conditions by producing more dry material.

Despite hot weather, relative humidity was low due to no rain. It reduced the risk of blight. Grain filling period was shorter compared to previous years due to hot and sunny weather which reduced 1,000 kernel weight.

Farmers that implemented normal cropping techniques during 2016’s paddy cropping season obtained yields higher than Turkey’s average numbers. However, short types produced low yield in areas with high concentration of red paddy and weed since these types cannot compete well against red paddy and weed.