Rice production in North Korea this year is predicted to decrease by 7% due to unfavorable climatic conditions, according to the July edition of Rice Market Monitor, a quarterly report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The report explains that a drought which began in May adversely affected the May-June rice planting season. This dry spell particularly impacted the important rice producing regions of the provinces of South Hwanghae and North and South Pyongan in the North. As such, the FAO predicts that North Korea will produce just 2.3 million tons of rice this year, although the extent of the damage caused is still not entirely clear.
“Above average temperatures and deficient rains affected crops in important producing areas, including South Hwanghae, and North and South Pyongan, compounding on the country’s already constrained irrigation capacity and limited availability of agricultural inputs,” the report noted.
Meanwhile, Asia as a whole is expected to experience only modest growth in rice output in 2012 due to a poor season in India, Cambodia, Taiwan and Nepal, as well as on the Korean peninsula. However, the FAO anticipates that China, an exporter of rice to both North and South Korea, will see a sizable increase.
