Maclean et al. - 2002 - Rice almanac source book for the most important e

Table 2. Rice production, area, and yield for countries producing more than 1 million t of rough rice, in order of
decreasing rough rice production, 2000.
Rough rice Rice area Arable land a % of world rice
Country production (000 ha) (000 ha) Rice yield
(000 t) Area Production (t/ha)
China 190,168 30,503 124,144 20 31.8 6.23
India 134,150 44,600 161,500 29 22.4 3.01
Indonesia 51,000 11,523 17,941 7 8.5 4.43
Bangladesh 35,821 10,700 7,992 7 6.0 3.35
Vietnam 32,554 7,655 5,700 5 5.4 4.25
Thailand 23,403 10,048 16,800 7 3.9 2.33
Myanmar b 20,125 6,211 9,548 4 3.4 3.24
Philippines 12,415 4,037 5,500 3 2.1 3.08
Japan 11,863 1,770 4,535 1 2.0 6.70
Brazil 11,168 3,672 53,200 2 1.9 3.04
USA 8,669 1,232 176,950 1 1.4 7.04
Korea, Rep. of7,067 1,072 1,708 1 1.2 6.59
Pakistan 7,000 2,312 21,425 2 1.2 3.03
Egypt 5,997 660 2,834 0 1.0 9.09
Nepal 4,030 1,550 2,898 1 0.7 2.60
Cambodia 3,762 1,873 3,700 1 0.6 2.01
Nigeria 3,277 2,061 28,200 1 0.5 1.59
Sri Lanka 2,767 871 869 1 0.5 3.18
Iran 2,348 587 16,837 0 0.4 4.00
Madagascar 2,300 1,207 2,565 1 0.4 1.91
Lao PDR 2,155 690 800 0 0.4 3.12
Colombia 2,100 440 2,079 0 0.4 4.77
Malaysia 2,037 692 1,820 0 0.3 2.94
Korea, DPR 1,690 535 1,700 0 0.3 3.16
Peru 1,665 300 3,670 0 0.3 5.55
Argentina b 1,658 289 25,000 0 0.3 5.74
Ecuador 1,520 380 1,574 0 0.3 4.00
Australia 1,400 145 53,775 0 0.2 9.66
Italy 1,300 221 8,280 0 0.2 5.89
Uruguay 1,175 185 1,260 0 0.2 6.35
Côte d’Ivoire 1,162 750 2,950 0 0.2 1.55
World 598,852 153,766 1,380,239 100 100.0 3.89
a
Arable land refers to land under temporar y crops (double-cropped areas are counted only once), temporar y meadows for mowing or pasture, land under
market and kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow or lying idle. The figures are for 1998. b Data for rice area and production are for 1999. Source of
basic data: FAO database, 2001.
one-fifth or more of planted area in the
ecologically more diverse countries of China
and India. Of 25 major rice-producing nations,
17 are located within this region (Table 2). The
eight countries outside the region jointly
produce less than 6% of the world’s rice.
In the years since World War II, world rice
area, yield, and production have changed considerably
(Table 3). From 1948 to 1990, the area
planted to rice increased by almost 71%, the
mean yield obtained from that area went up by
110%, and total production more than tripled.
During those four decades, rice became ever
more important as a human food. World rice
demand is predicted to increase at about 1% per
year from 2001 to 2025, roughly equal to
population growth in Asia during that period.
With the accelerating loss of productive
rice land to rising sea levels, salinization,
erosion, and human settlements, the problem
becomes one of increasing yields under ever
more trying circumstances. From 1965-67
through 1989-91, the improvements in productivity
spawned by the Green Revolution spread
rapidly. During those years, total rice production
almost doubled. Most of this increase came
from increased yields and increased cropping
intensity, although some resulted from new land
brought under cultivation or shifted into rice
from other crops. Much of the yield increase
could be traced to the introduction of the
dwarfing gene and to the increased use of fertilizer,
irrigation water, and other inputs. Further
yield increases have been constrained by
Importance of rice 5