AgroPages-Australian cotton and rice plating area forecast to decline sharply in 2018

According to Australian crop report (December edition) issued by Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), area planted to summer crops is forecast to decrease by 18% in 2018–19 to 1.1 million hectares driven by forecast falls in area planted to rice and cotton. Summer crop production is forecast to fall by 24% to 3.1 million tonnes.

Area planted to grain sorghum is forecast to increase by 8% in 2018–19 to 572,000 hectares in response to favourable prices. Grain sorghum production is forecast to increase by 6% to 1.5 million tonnes.

Area planted to cotton is forecast to fall by 44% in 2018–19 to 280,000 hectares. This is because below average rainfall in 2018 resulted in a significant fall in water levels in irrigation dams serving cotton-growing regions and low soil moisture levels. Cotton production is forecast to fall by 42% to around 581,000 tonnes of cotton lint and 822,000 tonnes of cottonseed.

Area planted to rice is forecast to fall by 75% to 15,100 hectares in 2018–19 reflecting low water allocations in southern New South Wales.