WED, DECEMBER 12 2018-theG&BJournal-Nigeria’s 2018/19 milled rice production is estimated at a record 4.79 million metric tons (mmt), up 1.0 mmt (27 percent) from last month and up 0.1 mmt (3 percent) from last year, according to the latest monthly report on crop acreage, yield and production in major countries worldwide by USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.
Area is estimated at 3.6 million hectares (mha), up 0.4 mha (13 percent) from last month and unchanged from last year.
According to the report, yield is estimated at 2.11 metric tons per hectare, up 13 percent from last month and up 11 percent from the 5-year average. Seasonal rainfall was average to above average during the 2018 growing season, with September floods in the north-central part of the country slightly reducing potential output.
Nigeria’s rice area and production have increased during the past five years due to numerous government policies that promote increased rice area, productivity, milling capacity, and dry-season production. Increases in irrigated dry-season production have reportedly occurred in the major rice producing regions in the north-central, northwest, and northeast parts of the country.
Nigeria is the largest rice producer in Africa and rice is planted in almost all administrative states. Rice is typically grown during the wet season from April through December and irrigated dry-season production is from October through June.
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