World Agriculture
Developments, trade, data, and topics in world agriculture
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(Russia) Russia's grain production ranks third in history, export quota policy tightenedRussia's 2025 grain harvest season is ending. According to Russian Minister of Agriculture Lutter, the annual grain output is about 0.1446 billion tons, the third highest in history, of which about 93.8 million tons of wheat; the grain diameter of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is estimated to be about 0.1345 billion tons, an increase of about 10 percent over the same period last year. Despite not reaching the peak level in 2022, Russia continues to be the world's largest wheat exporter. In terms of exports, Russia will export about 41 million tons of wheat in 2025, with about 78% going to African and Middle East markets. FAO expects Russia to export about 52 million tons of grain in 2025/26 (July 2025-June 2026), including about 45 million tons of wheat. The FOB price of 12.5 per cent protein wheat in the Black Sea was stable at $227-232 per tonne for most of the year. On the policy side, Russia continues its semi-annual export quota management: the quota for the first half of 2025 is only 10.6 million tons, the lowest in five years; On December 22, 2025, the government decided to set an export quota of 20 million tons in the first half of 2026 (February 15-June 30), covering wheat, mixed wheat, barley and corn. The rye quota is zero, and floating tariffs are applicable to exports within the quota. Analysts pointed out that Russia is seeking a balance between ensuring domestic market supply and stabilizing export earnings: tight domestic inventories prompted the tightening of quotas in the first half of the year, and liberalizing exports after a high yield will help digest inventories and exchange foreign exchange. The supply rhythm and export policy of the Black Sea grain source will continue to be the key variables of North Africa, Middle East importing countries and international wheat prices. Source: Russian Government Resolution 2089; TASS; FAO GIEWS Country Briefing, December 2025.
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(India) India's exports recover fully, global rice prices fall to eight-year lowIndia's rice exports have resumed in full since the lifting of the non-Basmati white rice export ban at the end of September 2024 and the lifting of the broken rice export ban in March 2025. Global rice prices continue to fall with the return of supply: Thailand's 5% broken white rice export price fell to US $372.5 per ton in August, down about 26% from the end of 2024 and the lowest since 2017. The FAO All Rice Price Index fell 22.6 percent in May from a year earlier, near a three-year low. The continuous high yield of global rice is the fundamental factor for the price decline: FAO predicts that the global rice production will reach a record high in 2025/26, and the Indian government's rice inventory was once close to 60 million tons. India's rice exports are expected to be about 21.5 million tons in 2025, an increase of nearly 20% year-on-year, re-opening the gap with Thailand, the second place; Thailand's exports have fallen by about 20%, and Vietnam has surpassed Thailand by virtue of its exports to the Philippines, Indonesia and other markets. The second largest rice exporter in the world. On the demand side, Indonesia will withdraw from the market for large-scale imports in 2024. The Philippines announced in August that it will implement a 60-day rice import ban from September 1, further suppressing international rice prices. For importing countries, the fall in rice prices has significantly eased the pressure on food security brought about by the wave of export restrictions in 2023, while for farmers in exporting countries, the decline in rice prices is eroding planting income, and the Thai and Vietnamese industries have called on the government to intervene. The global rice market is shifting from "supply anxiety" to "excess digestion. Source: Financial Times; FAO Food Outlook; Vietnam Agriculture Sector Statistics, August 2025.
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(Brazil) Brazil's soybean production hits new high, share of exports to China continues to riseBrazil's National Commodity Supply Company (CONAB) released its fifth production survey of the year on February 13. It is estimated that Brazil's soybean production in 2024/25 will reach 0.16601 billion tons, up 12.4 percent year-on-year, another record high. The USDA's caliber is 0.169 billion tons. The high yield is mainly due to the recovery of yield and the continued expansion of sown area. The survey showed that this year's soybean yield in Brazil was 3499kg/ha, an increase of 9.3 percent over the same period last year; the sown area was 47.45 million hectares, an increase of 2.8 percent over the same period last year, the lowest increase in six years, indicating that the kinetic energy of area expansion has weakened and more increase comes from yield restoration. On the export side, USDA expects Brazilian soybean exports to reach a record level of around 0.105 billion tons this year. China is the world's largest soybean importer. In recent years, imports from Brazil accounted for about 70% of China's total soybean imports; Brazil's soybean's main position in China has been further consolidated, and the share of US soybeans in the Chinese market has continued to shrink. Brazil's high-yield landing has suppressed global oilseed prices and intensified the game between China, the United States and Brazil in soybean trade: abundant supply in South America has increased China's purchasing options, while U.S. farmers are under pressure from increased competition in export markets. The market will then focus on the progress of harvesting and shipment in Brazil, as well as the pace of China's procurement in the new season. Source: CONAB 5th Production Survey, Brazil; USDA; China Customs, February 2025.
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World Food and Agriculture Report 2013"The State of Food and Agriculture 2013 Source: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization From Executive Summary: Malnutrition in all its forms - undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and overweight and obesity - imposes unacceptably high economic and social costs on countries at all income levels. The State of Food and Agriculture 2013: Food systems for better nutrition argues that improving nutrition and reducing these costs must begin with food and agriculture. The traditional role of agriculture in producing food and generating income is fundamental, but agriculture and the entire food system - from inputs and production, through processing, storage, transport and retailing, to consumption - can contribute much more to the eradication of malnutrition. http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3300e/i3300e.pdf (Contributed by Zhang Hongzhou, Special Editor)
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77 Years of American Agriculture (1936-2012)Digitizing Our Agricultural History; 77 Years of Annual Statistics Now Online- Files Available 2012 Agricultural Statistics 2011 Agricultural Statistics 2010 Agricultural Statistics 2009 Agricultural Statistics 2008 Agricultural Statistics 2007 Agricultural Statistics 2006 Agricultural Statistics 2005 Agricultural Statistics 2004 Agricultural Statistics 2003 Agricultural Statistics 2002 Agricultural Statistics 2001 Agricultural Statistics 2000 Agricultural Statistics 1999 Agricultural Statistics 1998 Agricultural Statistics 1997 Agricultural Statistics 1995-96 Agricultural Statistics The 1995-96 edition is also available in one large PDF file. 1994 Agricultural Statistics The 1994 edition is only available in one large file. (This file is 5 mb.) 1936 to 1993 Agricultural Statistics These editions are only available as one large file. http://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Ag_Statistics/index.asp
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Global Food Safety Index 2013 ReleasedA report on the Global Food Safety Index, sponsored by DuPont and published by UK economists, is available http://foodsecurityindex.eiu.com/. Related reports and data can be downloaded. (Responsible editor: Shixin)
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FAO's latest edition of the Statistical Yearbook publishedFAO has released the 2013 edition of the Statistical Yearbook, which once again sheds light on the impact of agriculture on global warming, trends in hunger and malnutrition, and the state of the natural resource base on which world food production depends. The latest data available in the Statistical Yearbook show that agricultural greenhouse gas emissions increased by 1.6 per cent per year in the decade after 2000, reaching 5 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2010, which is equivalent to 10 per cent of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Among the different sectors of agriculture, livestock activities and the use of fertilizers are the largest sources of emissions. In 2010-2012, nearly 0.87 billion of the undernourished population, 12.5 per cent of the world's population, lived overwhelmingly (0.852 billion) in developing countries. Global crop production has expanded threefold in the past 50 years, mainly through increased yields per unit area and crop intensification. The global per capita food supply increased from about 2200 kcal/day in the early 1960 s to 2800 kcal/day in 2009. Europe's current food supply per capita is 3370 kcal/day, the highest in the world. Cereals are the most important source of food for human consumption, with 1 billion tons for human consumption and 0.75 billion tons for animal feed out of the 2.3 billion tons produced annually. After a decade of slowing growth in the 1990 s, global public spending on agricultural research and development rose steadily, from $26.1 billion in 2000 to $31.7 billion in 2008. Most of the growth came from developing countries, with China and India accounting for nearly half of it. Other countries, notably Argentina, Brazil, Iran, Nigeria and Russia, also saw significant increases in public spending on agricultural R & D. However, there are many negative developments in many of the smaller and more technologically backward poor countries. In addition, the agricultural sector has shown remarkable resilience in the global economic turmoil as a result of high agricultural commodity prices. In 2010, the value added of agriculture worldwide increased by 4%, while the overall GDP increased by 1%. http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3107e/i3107e.PDF (Responsible editor: Shixin)