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VENEZUELA forms part of the northern edge of South America, facing the Caribbean Sea and bordered by Colombia, Brazil, and Guyana. It has an area of 912,000 km2 and a population (1999) of 23.7 million. There are three main regions: mountainous areas in the north, west, and south; coastal lowlands; and central plains. Arable land is 4% of the total; agriculture occupies 13% of the workforce and forms 4% of the GDP.
General information
- GNI per capita PPP$, 2000: 5,740
- Internal renewable water resources: 200 km3
- Main food consumed: maize, oil and fat, sugar and honey, wheat, fruits
- Rice consumption, 1999: 15.6 kg milled rice per person per year
Production constraints
The following are the major constraints to sustainable rice production in Venezuela:
- Rice hoja blanca virus, blast, brown spot, and whitebacked planthopper
- Weed and red rice competition
- Iron toxicity, poor internal and external drainage because of heavy soils in
Portuguesa and Guárico
- Yield decline in intensive irrigated areas
- Yield potential of present irrigated varieties has reached a plateau
- Poor land preparation
Production season |
|
|
|
Planting |
Harvesting |
Wet season |
Jul-Aug |
Nov-Dec |
Dry season |
Nov-Dec |
May-Jun |
Basic statistics, Venezuela |
|
1985 |
1990 |
1995 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
Rice |
Area harvested (ha) |
180,769 |
114,755 |
177,430 |
151,899 |
148,883 |
150,000 |
Yield (t/ha) |
2.6 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
4.7 |
5.0 |
4.9 |
Production (t) |
471,722 |
495,000 |
756,950 |
716,090 |
740,000 |
737,000 |
Rice imports (t) |
755 |
352 |
68,077 |
141 |
127 |
na |
Paddy imports (t) |
0 |
519 |
104,429 |
26 |
8 |
na |
Rice exports (t) |
28 |
0 |
76,927 |
81,235 |
22,958 |
na |
Paddy exports (t) |
0 |
0 |
335 |
7,508 |
1 |
na |
Others |
Population, total ( x 10 3 ) |
17,138 |
19,502 |
21,844 |
23,242 |
23,706 |
na |
Population, agriculture ( x 10 3 ) |
2,631 |
2,763 |
2,541 |
2,402 |
2,355 |
na |
Agricultural area ( x 10 3 ha) |
21,740 |
22,145 |
21,790 |
21,730 |
na |
na |
Irrigated agricultural area ( x 10 3 ha) |
470 |
480 |
536 |
540 |
na |
na |
Total fertilizer consumption (t) |
477,639 |
427,000 |
298,000 |
242,800 |
na |
na |
Tractors used in agric. (no.) |
43,500 |
48,000 |
49,000 |
49,000 |
na |
na |
Source: FAOSTAT online database. |
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