Rice Crops Take A Pounding From Southeast Asian Floods
October marks the start of the main rice harvest in Thailand, the world’s largest exporter of the grain. Traders are waiting to see the full impact of flooding on the crop, but it’s already clear that output across Southeast Asia will fall substantially. The U.N.’s food agency estimated last week that 12.5% of rice paddy had been damaged in Thailand. Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines also took a hit, with farmers in Vietnam, the second-largest exporter, largely spared. Naturally the U.N. is concerned about food shortages in the affected areas and the impact on poor rice-importing countries. In addition to flooded fields that can’t be harvested on time, grain warehouses have been inundated. Prior to these losses, global rice production was forecast to hit a new record high of 461 million tons, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture....
