FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 02/02 - AUSTRALIA (6 February)
In Australia, the 2001 wheat harvest is estimated at about 23 million tonnes. Although the season got off to a poor start in Western Australia and Queensland, due to dry weather, conditions in Western Australia improved as the season went on. As a result, average yields in this state have turned out much higher than anticipated. Output of winter coarse grains (mostly barley and oats), is estimated to have remained about the level of the previous year at some 8 million tonnes. The development of the rice plants for the 2002 season in Australia has been delayed by cool temperatures at the onset of the season in October last year and again in January. As a result, yields are expected to be significantly lower than in 2001. Combined with a 10 percent contraction in the area to 167 000 hectares, production is expected to reach about 1.4 million tonnes, down from almost 1.8 million tonnes in 2001.