TUNISIA (12 May)
Prospects for the 2003/04 winter crops to be harvested from May/June are good due to favourable weather conditions, larger area sown and adequate availability of agricultural inputs. Aggregate cereal production in 2004 is tentatively forecast at 2.1 million tonnes, which is lower than the record crop of 2.9 million tonnes in 2003, but remains above the average for the previous five years.
Imports of wheat in 2003/04 (July/June) are forecast at 0.6 million tonnes, sharply down compared to 1.4 million tonnes estimated for the previous year. Imports of maize are anticipated to remain at the previous year’s level of 0.75 million tonnes.