Bangkok, Thailand, December 20, Sri Lanka’s rice production may fall due to adverse weather conditions states an FAO report.

It said: "Global paddy production in 2004 is estimated at 611 million tonnes, 27 million tonnes higher than in 2003 and close to the record achieved in 1999, an FAO statement said today. However, production will remain short of consumption and rice supplies available for international trade might be limited.

After four consecutive years of falling rice production, the December 2004 issue of FAO’s Rice Market Monitor notes that most of this year’s rice production increases are concentrated in Asia, especially in China but also in Indonesia. Further output gains are expected in Afghanistan, North Korea, Pakistan, Philippines and Viet Nam, with a recovery also prospected in Japan and South Korea. By contrast, adverse weather conditions may cause outputs to fall in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Overall rice production is also set to rise in Africa - reflecting good crops in Egypt, Madagascar and Guinea Bissau - and Latin America with excellent rice crops in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Prospects are rather bleak in Central America and the Caribbean due to drought and hurricanes. In the rest of the world, production is set to reach a new record in the Unites States; witness a recovery from the dramatic 2003 drought-induced shortfall in Australia; and end positively in the European Union."