Latest information continues to point to a slightly larger
global cereal output in 2000 than in the previous year. However,
based on current forecasts, total cereal production would not be
sufficient to meet expected utilization requirements in 2000/01
and global cereal reserves would have to be drawn down. To avoid
any further deterioration of the cereal supply and demand
balance in 2001/02, a more significant increase in cereal
production would be necessary in 2001. FAO's latest forecast of
world cereal production in 2000 is 1 896 million tonnes,
(including rice in milled equivalent), 6 million tonnes more
than the forecast in the previous report and about 1.3 percent
above the revised estimate of 1 871 million tonnes for 1999. The
forecast for wheat has been revised down since the last report,
by 5 million tonnes, to 590 million tonnes. This would be
virtually unchanged from the previous year's output and close to
the average of the past five years. In Asia, aggregate output in
the region is forecast to re