australia's Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics ( abare ) has said that poor rainfall in the eastern region of the country will lead to below-average crop yields. Stephen Beare, acting executive director of abare said this was because of the impact of El Nio. Most cropping regions have experienced below average rainfall, while more frosts than usual are also be attributed to El Nio -- a periodic warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean by a few degrees caused due to the reversal of ocean current that reverberates globally. Total production of winter crops is expected to fall by 28 per cent to 24.7 m tonne. Last year a record of 34.5 tonne was produced.
Wheat production in 1997-98 is expected to be 16.2 m tonne, more than 30 per cent lower than last year. Australia is the world's fourth largest producer of wheat after the European Union ( eu ), the us and Canada. abare predicts a slight fall in world wheat consumption as makers of livestock feed switch increasingly to lower-priced corn, and in the wake of the eu re-imposing export taxes on wheat in late April.
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