MONGOLIA* (10 May)
Planting of the 2004 wheat crop is about to start and some 40 000 hectares of wheat area are expected to be taken out from the previous year as some of the land previously cultivated by farming companies is being reallocated under the 2002 land laws. As a result, the 2004 wheat output is forecast at 148 000 tonnes, some 22 000 tonnes below that in 2003. This production covers only some 36 percent of country’s wheat requirement and the shortfall is expected to be made by imports and aid.
From January to April 2004, Mongolia has received 24 500 tonnes of wheat aid from the United States, US$85 000 of wheat aid provide by Japan and 9 000 tonnes of rice from Taiwan. The donated grains are sold to approved buyers at market prices and the income derived from the sales will be used to support agricultural development projects.
From 1999 to 2002, the number of families owning livestock declined, as a result of severe winters that cut herd numbers by some 10 percent. However, the condition was better in late 2003 and the early 2004 due to better weather with temperatures above normal in most parts of the country. The survival rate for new-born stock was high and fewer adult animals were lost. Livestock also benefited from better supply of fodder and hay which was produced in the summer of 2003.
An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was reported in Dornogov, Dundgov and Sukhbaatar aimags in the south of Mongolia in February, March and April.