World rice yield to hit record levels
Total paddy output this year is likely to go up by 2.3 per cent, hitting a new record of 666 million tonnes. This will take the per hectare output to 4.19 tonnes as against 3.90 tonnes in 1999 and 4.11 tonnes in 2007, according to the latest report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. There has not been much change in acreage, from 157 million hectare in 1999 to 159 million hectare in 2008. Paddy output, though, has risen 8.82 per cent now, from the level of 612 million tonnes in 1999.