Sri Lanka says up to 50 percent of rice crop destroyed by floods
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Feb 8, 2011, 2:37:49 AM2/8/11
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Times and Climate Change
Sri Lanka says up to 50 percent of rice crop destroyed by floods
Reuters
By Ranga Sirilal
COLOMBO - Two rounds of flooding in Sri Lanka since January have destroyed up to 50 percent of the staple rice crop, the Agriculture Ministry said on Tuesday, raising the risk of food price inflation.
Heavy monsoonal flooding since mid-January has killed at least 54 people, and in the latest round this week, displaced more than 1.1 million from their homes.
"On rough estimates, more than 300,000 hectares' have been completely destroyed so the total expected production is 1.75 million metric tonnes," Agriculture Ministry Secretary K.E Karunatilake, the ministry's top civil servant, told Reuters.
Total expected production this season before the floods had been 739,000 hectares and 2.7 million metric tonnes, he said.
Greater-than-normal monsoon rains since early January have pounded Sri Lanka's Northern, Eastern, Central and North Central provinces, setting off mudslides, swamping roads and bursting hundreds of dams and reservoirs.
The end of a 25-year civil war in May 2009 has added about 169,000 hectares in the former war zone to Sri Lanka's twice-annual production, which the government has said will help mitigate any potential inflationary shocks.
Already, the government has sought World Food Programme assistance to help it acquire more fast-growing seed paddy stocks and to speed up replanting.
"We are planning to get the replanting done by at least end of March but the biggest problem is that most of the seed paddy is also destroyed," Karunatilake said.
Current rice stocks and the potential for a larger crop in the May-September season "are likely to ease any prices pressures in 2011," the central bank said on Tuesday after holding rates steady and shrugging off inflation fears.
Although Sri Lanka has forecast inflation of 4 percent to 6 percent in 2011, the public has begun grumbling about high food prices, which are traditionally a politically sensitive issue in the Indian Ocean nation.
Global rice prices have remained largely stable despite food prices hitting a record high on fears of shrinking wheat and corn supplies.
Ample rice supplies from top exporters Thailand and Vietnam should keep prices in check through the first quarter, although stock-building by some buyers like Bangladesh and Indonesia could push prices higher.
Benchmark Thai rice dropped 13 percent in 2010, while U.S. wheat and corn futures climbed around 50 percent as adverse weather hit key producing regions.
The world's second-largest rice exporter Vietnam was forecast to enjoy a bumper next crop, while top buyer the Philippines has said it would import between 1.0 million and 1.5 million tonnes in 2011, around half of last year's imports.
The two factors together should mitigate upward price pressure.
Sri Lanka says up to 50 percent of rice crop destroyed by floods
Reuters
By Ranga Sirilal
COLOMBO - Two rounds of flooding in Sri Lanka since January have destroyed up to 50 percent of the staple rice crop, the Agriculture Ministry said on Tuesday, raising the risk of food price inflation.
Heavy monsoonal flooding since mid-January has killed at least 54 people, and in the latest round this week, displaced more than 1.1 million from their homes.
"On rough estimates, more than 300,000 hectares' have been completely destroyed so the total expected production is 1.75 million metric tonnes," Agriculture Ministry Secretary K.E Karunatilake, the ministry's top civil servant, told Reuters.
Total expected production this season before the floods had been 739,000 hectares and 2.7 million metric tonnes, he said.
Greater-than-normal monsoon rains since early January have pounded Sri Lanka's Northern, Eastern, Central and North Central provinces, setting off mudslides, swamping roads and bursting hundreds of dams and reservoirs.
The end of a 25-year civil war in May 2009 has added about 169,000 hectares in the former war zone to Sri Lanka's twice-annual production, which the government has said will help mitigate any potential inflationary shocks.
Already, the government has sought World Food Programme assistance to help it acquire more fast-growing seed paddy stocks and to speed up replanting.
"We are planning to get the replanting done by at least end of March but the biggest problem is that most of the seed paddy is also destroyed," Karunatilake said.
Current rice stocks and the potential for a larger crop in the May-September season "are likely to ease any prices pressures in 2011," the central bank said on Tuesday after holding rates steady and shrugging off inflation fears.
Although Sri Lanka has forecast inflation of 4 percent to 6 percent in 2011, the public has begun grumbling about high food prices, which are traditionally a politically sensitive issue in the Indian Ocean nation.
Global rice prices have remained largely stable despite food prices hitting a record high on fears of shrinking wheat and corn supplies.
Ample rice supplies from top exporters Thailand and Vietnam should keep prices in check through the first quarter, although stock-building by some buyers like Bangladesh and Indonesia could push prices higher.
Benchmark Thai rice dropped 13 percent in 2010, while U.S. wheat and corn futures climbed around 50 percent as adverse weather hit key producing regions.
The world's second-largest rice exporter Vietnam was forecast to enjoy a bumper next crop, while top buyer the Philippines has said it would import between 1.0 million and 1.5 million tonnes in 2011, around half of last year's imports.
The two factors together should mitigate upward price pressure.
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