FAO Expects Rice Prices to Fall this Year

Prices of rice are likely to fall in 2009 thanks to a bumper harvest last year, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). FAO, in its February Rice Market Monitor, predicted global paddy production in the 2008 season to rise to 683 million tonnes, 3.5 percent more than in 2007. This is the fastest rate of growth for three years. FAO said that the increase is the result of a 2.2 percent increase in the global area planted to rice as farmers and governments reacted to rising prices in 2008.

Rice imports to Africa are also expected to decline significantly. Rice production in African countries is predicted to rise by 18 percent. This, FAO said, is brought about by government support and increased use of new, high-yielding and resilient seed varieties.

The UN agency, however, warned that the global economic downturn and the resulting job losses could outweigh the benefits of low prices for the poorest of the world's rice consumers.

FAO's press release is available at http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/10305/icode/