Food difficulties remain
| Washington
The world food situation at the start of 1981 remained difficult, with expected sharp declines in cereal stocks and increased import needs by developing countries and the USSR, and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said in its latest Food Outlook report.
The monthly report placed world cereal production (wheat, rice, coarse grains) in 1980 at 1,438 million tons, only marginally higher than in 1979 and again below long-term trend.
The report forecast a record rise in world trade in cereals in 1980-81 to 202 million tons. The increase would reflect higher imports by the Soviet Union and by developing countries whose own imports were expected to reach a record 95 million tons, 6 million tons higher than in 1979-80.
