Grain production nearly doubled in 2003 after good rains

Grain production in Senegal nearly doubled to a record 1.5 million tonnes last year following good rains and an increase in the area under cultivation, Agriculture Minister Abib Sy said. The most spectacular rise was in maize output, which increased more than four-fold, he said in a speech on Monday. According to documents made available by the Ministry of Agriculture, overall grain production rose 91 percent to 1.5 million tonnes in 2003. Millet, the staple food crop grown in this semi-arid country, increased 50 percent to 623.359 tonnes from 414,820 in 2002. Rice, a favourite food of Senegal's 10 million people, enjoyed a 21 percent increase in production to an estimated 208,194 tonnes from 172,395. However, this improvement was not sufficient to end the country's dependence on rice imports. The biggest increase was recorded in maize, a non-traditional food in Senegal which President Aboulaye Wade is keen to promote. Output rocketed to 495,464 tonnes from 80,372 in 2002, giving the country a surplus of more than 300,000 tonnes. Sorghum production jumped 48 percent to 116,929 tonnes from 173,218. Senegal enjoyed equally good harvests in its main cash crops. Groundnuts, which are exported for making vegetable oil, rose 71 percent to 444,790 tonnes from 260,733, while cotton was up 40 percent to a record 54,939 tonnes from 39,228. The Ministry of Agriculture said crop production as a whole was 40 percent higher than the average of the past five years.