In 2006, both world agricultural production and food production rose by less than 1%. As a consequence, per caput food agricultural production is estimated to have fallen by about 0.2%; the first such decline since 1993.
Much of the poor performance of world agriculture in 2006 was due to disappointing cereal production, which fell for the second consecutive year. The decline was caused by a contraction in, wheat output, down 5%, and coarse grains, down 3%, while rice production was virtually unchanged. The cereal harvest was especially poor in Australia and the United States where it fell by 60% and 7% respectively. Production was also down in the European Union, Canada, Argentina and South Africa. On the other hand, practically all the other crop sectors did well, especially oil and sugar crops and vegetables.
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Seen from a longer perspective, world agricultural production increased annually by 2.2% over the ten year 1996-2006 period, resulting from a 2.2 percent growth in crop production and 2.4 percent in livestock production. The pace of growth was much slower for cereals, which grew by just 0.8% over the 10 years.