FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 02/01 - AZERBAIJAN (1 February)
Early indications are that the area sown to winter wheat and barley has continued to increase. In the wake of two years of below average precipitation and difficulties in marketing cash crops such as grapes and cotton, farmers are switching to winter grains which mature in June, before the onset of summer heat and peak water needs. Water supplies for irrigation in the reservoirs are low after last year’s drought in their catchment areas in neighbouring countries and harvest prospects will depend crucially on precipitation in February- March and snowmelt in May-June. Emergency works carried out this winter (deepening irrigation canals etc.) could help to maintain production levels of remunerative crops.
An FAO drought assessment mission fielded in January 2001 confirmed that the 2000 wheat crop had by and large escaped the effects of the drought, which affected mostly spring planted crops (potatoes, vegetables, cotton, fodder) and in particular on cropping areas at the end of the canal systems, in higher areas or where pumps could not lift water due to high suction associated with very low water levels. The areas sown to cereals had increased markedly. The 2000 grain harvest is officially estimated at 1. 5 million tonnes of grain, some 400 000 tonnes above the 5 year average reflecting a sharp increase in the area and yield of wheat, as the drought and shortages of irrigation water mainly affected spring sown crops (including potatoes, vegetables), fodder and the fishing industry.
Following the better than average harvest, the cereal import requirement is expected to decline somewhat. However, grainfeed for animals is likely to rise, as fodder supplies are low and domestic farmers face import competition. The bulk of the cereal import requirements 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.
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