By George Mwangi

Special to Dow Jones Newswires

Tanzania's rice production is forecast to rise by 9% in the marketing year beginning May through April 2024, the U.S. Agriculture Department said late Tuesday.

Production is estimated to rise to 2.4 million metric tons, the USDA said in its annual Tanzania grain and feed report.

The increase in 2023-24 is attributed to a rise of harvested area due to more farmers joining new rice irrigation schemes, it said.

However, the yields won't exceed the 2021-22 harvest due to high fertilizer prices, it said.

In 2022-23, rice production is estimated to decline by 15% to 2.2 million tons compared with the prior year due to dry weather and low input application because of the removal of fertilizer price ceilings in mid-2021, it said.

Rice production in Tanzania is mostly rain-fed and irrigation systems largely consist of channeling rainwater to rice fields, making them vulnerable to low rainfall, the report said.

In 2023-24, rice imports are forecast to decrease slightly to 180,000 tons from 200,000 tons as increases in domestic production account for a larger share of Tanzania's available supply, the USDA said.

Tanzania primarily imports rice from Pakistan, India, and Thailand, it said.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 24, 2023 11:08 ET (15:08 GMT)