WORLD’S WHEAT CROP

Taranaki Daily News, 19 December 1929, Page 7

WORLD’S WHEAT CROP

LOWEST FOR FIVE YEARS.

FAILURE IN U.S. AND CANADA.

The world’s wheat crop harvest of .1929 is the .lowest since 1924, according to figures received by the Interna- ' tipnal Institute of Agriculture. The reason for. this is the comparative failure * of the wheat crop in the United States and Canada, says the Rome correspondent of the Morning Post. The world’s wheat harvest, accjjrding to forecasts for the northern hemisphere, which is only s ‘sceptible to unimportant modifications, will be less than 1928 by about .300,000,000' metric quintals (30,000,000 tons). It should bo remembered that in 1 this estimate the southern hemisphere, nhmely Argentine, Australia and South Africa, which latter country is a small wheat producer, are excluded, their returns not yet being available. \

For four-fifths of the northern hemisphere of the. world, otherwise 80 per cent, of the estimated wheat crop, is 043,000,000 metric quintals, as against 746,000,000 metric quintals in .1928. The , average for the, past five years for this four-fifths of the northern hemisphere was 673,000,000 metric quintals. The reason why figures are at present only available for four-fifths of the harvest of the northern hemisphere is that Russia and China do not return statistics, while France and Serbia do not issue theirs till later. France’s crop is expected to be good to excellent. Europe’s wheat crop is forecasted as' good for countries whoso returns are. available —Russia, France, Serbia and Greece excluded. ■ Europe’s crop is estimated at 228,000,-. 000 metric quintals, or 15,000,000 less than last year, and 12,000,000 better than the average. The reason for the drop of about 100,000,000 metric quin- • tals in the world’s production, or the ~-'' four-fifths thereof for which figures are • available, is the prolonged summer drought in Canada and the United ,7 States’. s’‘' \ ' Canada’s production is ’ estimated at 66,000,000 metric quintals less than’ in 1928, while the drop in the United .</• States crop is estimated at 32,000,000. Europe’s diminution of 15,000,000 quintals is due to the relative failure of the Rumanian, Hungarian and Bulgarian crops. For Western Europe the forecast is better than for Eastern Europe., ■ / An early report of Argentine and Australian wheat, which is at present in the germinating period, indicates not over favourable conditions.