Prospects

Australian Rice Crop

IT is expected that this season’s rice crop in Australia will be larger than last year’s. At the same time, how ever, the Australian home market is ex pected to consume 25,000 tons as against 10,000 tons last year when rice was ob tainable only by those who required it for medical reasons.

All rice surplus to Australian require ments will go to Papua-New Guinea and other Pacific islands whose native popu lations Australia has undertaken to keep fully supplied—at a cost of about £BO per ton.