At least 35 pct of rice crop destroyed in Sri Lanka

Seed paddy crop destroyed-Agriculture Ministry

By Ranga Sirilal and C. Bryson Hull

COLOMBO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Two rounds of flooding in Sri Lanka since January have destroyed at least 35 percent of the staple rice crop, the Agriculture Ministry said on Tuesday, raising the risk of food price inflation. Heavy monsoon flooding since mid-January has caused landslides and burst hundreds of dams and killed at least 57 people. In the latest round this week, rising water forced at least 193,700 people into temporary shelters.

The rice crop has taken a major beating, according to preliminary government surveys, but Asian rice traders said the impact on the global market will be minimal as the country has stocks and import volumes are expected to be small. "On rough estimates, more than 300,000 hectares' have been completely destroyed so the total expected production is 1.75 million metric tonnes," Agriculture Ministry Secretary K.E Karunatilake, the ministry's top civil servant, told Reuters.

Total expected rice production this season had been 2.7 million metric tonnes (MT) from 739,000 hectares, he said. Sri Lanka is usually self-sufficient in rice production, having produced 3.65 million metric tonnes in 2009 against an average annual consumption of 2.34 million MT, according to data from the central bank and Census and Statistics Department. Last year it imported 52,000 tonnes of specialty rice. Despite self-sufficiency, politically influential traders are often accused of hoarding supplies. The government as of now has 188,000 MT in stock, according to the Census and Statistics Department. It had no data on private stocks, but they have historically been larger than the government supply.