FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 11/00 - AZERBAIJAN (6 November)
The outlook for the 2000 grain harvest has also been affected by the heatwave and dry conditions this summer. The bulk of cereals are sown in the winter. Indications are that spring planted crops, maize, cotton, fruit, vegetables and potatoes etc suffered from hot dry weather and shortages of irrigation water but that the winter wheat crop was satisfactory. While spring crop losses are officially put at about 25 percent, overall the aggregate cereal harvest is officially estimated at 1.4 million tonnes, higher than last year, reflecting a sharp increase in the area sown which partially offset drought losses. Other crops, including fodder, have been more seriously affected.
The bulk of the cereal import requirements this will be covered commercially, though vulnerable groups, including the internally displaced, still need targeted food assistance. WFP continues to support 485 000 beneficiaries through a 3- year Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation which started in July 1999. Total food commodities committed for the life of the project amount to 47 880 tonnes of food aid. The current programme supports IDPs with supplementary assistance, relief support to socially vulnerable groups, resettlement of refugees/returnees and recovery through food- for-work and food-for-training.
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