Thailand Sees Main Rice Crop Up 7 Percent
March 21, 2018 | 5:00 am
Bangkok. Thailand's main rice crop output in 2018-19 is estimated to rise more than 7 percent to 25.81 million tons, according to figures from the country's agricultural economics office.
Thailand, the world's second-largest rice exporter, is estimated to have produced 24.07 million tons of rice in its last main crop.
The current 2017-18 off-season crop, harvested between February and April, is also estimated at 8.16 million tons, 180,000 tons more than an earlier forecast in December due to heavy rainfall.
"There is more water this year than last year," Winaroj Sapsongsuk, secretary-general of the Office of the Agricultural Economics, told Reuters.
Water levels in Thai reservoirs nationwide are now at 49 billion cubic meters, compared to 42 billion at the same period last year, according to data from the Department of Irrigation.
Reuters
Tags: Keywords: