Vietnam, Indian agricultural production estimated at record high

In Asia and the Pacific, now is the time to accelerate the agrifood systems transformation – to leave no one behind

More than 80 percent of the world’s smallholders and family farmers live off the land in this Asia and the Pacific region, and the Symposium was told their interests and livelihoods must be safeguarded by measures including social safety nets and reskilling programmes to improve employment prospects.

FAO called for bold action by all stakeholders to transform the region’s agrifood systems, saying governments must provide leadership; the private sector must broaden its customer base to provide affordable solutions for smallholders; civil society must work more proactively with policymakers and the private sector; academia must accelerate research, while resource partners must make this transformation their top priority, according to FAO.

In India, the wheat production during the current crop year (July 2022-June 2023) has been estimated at a record high of 112.18 million tonnes (mt) - 4 per cent higher than 107.74 mt last crop year, the Government said in its second advance estimates on Tuesday.

The record high production of wheat, rice and coarse cereals has resulted in foodgrains production projected at a new high of 323.55 mt, up 2.5 per cent from the previous record high of 315.62 mt in 2021-22. The estimate of a record high rice production comes despite the output being lower in the kharif season.

Trade estimates for India's wheat output in the previous year were also lower than the government's initial projection of 111.3 million mt, which was subsequently lowered to 107.7 million mt.

Wheat, the second-largest food grain sown in India after rice, is planted during October-November and harvested over February-March.

Whilst, Vietnam is one of the three largest rice producing and exporting countries in the world. Each year, the country produces 22-23 million tons of rice. About 15% of Vietnam's rice production is exported.

Agricultural land used for the 2022-2023 crop cultivation in Vietnam has decreased by 3% compared to the previous crop. Vietnam is forecast to have about 6 million tonnes of rice to export in 2023, compared to 7.1 million tonnes in 2022.

According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, due to insufficient supply, Vietnam only exported 400,000 tonnes of rice in the first month of 2023, a decrease of 20.9 % compared to the same period in 2022.