|
|
|
|
|
|
March 27, 2002
Satellite imagery and weather data indicate that persistent localized dryness has likely had a negative impact on winter wheat in eastern Georgia. Crops in the west, meanwhile, have benefited from generally favorable weather. This is consistent with a recent report, from the Interfax new agency, of significant damage to winter crops in the eastern agricultural region.
Precipitation in eastern Georgia was extremely low from September
through February, in contrast to the near-normal amounts received in the west.
Establishment
conditions for winter grains in the east were excessively dry. In some regions, according to the Interfax report, 60 percent of winter grains
were "wiped out." The contrasting regional conditions are
reflected in NOAA/AVHRR satellite imagery from early March. (Note that in
this imagery, vegetation is indicated by the color red. The white in the
Caucasus mountains, straddling the Georgia-Russia border, is snow.) In the
agricultural zone of western Georgia, natural vegetation and winter crops appear
to be in relatively good condition. In the east, however, there is
noticeably less vegetative vigor (i.e., red color), due in part to the poor
germination and establishment of winter grains last fall. Imagery-derived vegetative indices (a measure of
crop vigor) also indicate the poor conditions in eastern Georgia compared to
last year. Prospects likely improved with the arrival of
rainfall in mid-March, just as the crop was breaking dormancy and resuming
vegetative growth. Winter wheat is an extremely resilient crop, and a
return to normal rainfall patterns could compensate -- to some degree -- for
earlier dryness.
Georgia produced an estimated 0.7 million tons of grain in 2001/02, including 0.3 million wheat, 0.3 million corn, and 0.1 million barley. Production had jumped sharply from the previous year, when wheat and barley output combined barely surpassed 0.1 million tons. The improved harvest was attributed to a return to favorable weather, after a punishing drought during the 2000 growing season, and increased technical assistance from international organizations, who provided seed, equipment, fertilizer, and fuel. (View current USDA estimates of Georgian grain production.) Sown area of winter wheat for 2002/03 reportedly rose by roughly 20 percent, from approximately 100,000 hectares last season. The USDA will release its initial estimates of 2002/03 grain production in May.
For more information, contact Mark Lindeman with the Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division on (202) 690-0143.
