CropWatch production estimates are based on a combination of remote-sensing models combined with CropWatch global agroclimatic and agronomic indicators as well as meteorological data from over 20,000 meteorological weather stations around the world. The major grain crops (maize, rice, wheat) and soybean production of 43 major producers and exporters are estimated and predicted for 2020. The results are as follows:

Table5.1 2020 cereal and soybean production estimates in thousand tonnes. Δ is the percentage of change of 2020 production when compared with corresponding 2019 values.

Global production: In 2020, global maize production is expected to be at 1.070 billion tons, an increase of 1.4% or equivalent to 15.15 million tons; global rice production is expected to be 760 million tons，an increase of 0.9% or an increase of 6.80 million tons; global wheat production is 738 million tons, an 3.1% increase of 21.98 million tons; global soybean production is expected to be 323 million tons, a slight decrease of 0.2%. In 2020, the global production of major cereals and oil crops will be generally stable. Covid-19 has had limited impact on global food production (Table 5.1).
Maize: The global maize production supply situation is generally favorable. Maize production of the world's top five maize producers increased by 0.8% to 2.5%, and the total maize production of the top five maize producing countries increased by 10.72 million tons. The United States, as the world's largest maize producer, increased its production by 1.6% to 374.266 million tons. More than 5.0% year-on-year production increase were observed in 8 countries (Pakistan, Mexico, Angola, Hungary, Cambodia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan and Zambia). Nigeria, Turkey, Romania and Mozambique experienced droughts during the critical maize growth period and production decreased by 12.1%, 5.1%, 3.5% and 3.1% , respectively. Ethiopia was affected by desert locusts and other unfavorable factors, and its maize production decreased by 3.8%. The overall maize production of other countries is close to last year's.

Rice: In contrast to the other three major crops, rice is mostly grown in areas with abundant rainfall or well-developed irrigation facilities. Therefore, the inter-annual variation of rice production is generally smaller than for the other three crops. However, some countries still experienced large inter-annual changes due to the extreme weather. Affected by the drought in 2020, Myanmar, and Nigeria have the largest reduction in rice production by 7.3% and 8.6% respectively; Production in Bangladesh decreased by 4.6% due to floods. Brazil, Mozambique, and China also saw a slight decrease in rice production, with a decrease of 0.6%, 0.3% and 0.2% respectively. The rest of the main rice-producing countries increased their production as compared to 2019. India, as the world's largest rice producer, increased its production by 7.2%, or 12.13 million tons, reaching 182.75 million tons. The increase in production was mainly due to favorable agro-meteorological conditions. Pakistan, Argentina, Sri Lanka and Iran increased their production by more than 4%. In general, the global rice production and supply situation is stable.

Wheat: Winter wheat in most major producing countries in the northern hemisphere was harvested in June and July 2020, and spring wheat in August and September. The agro-meteorological conditions during the grainfilling stage of spring wheat were generally conducive for good yields. CropWatch revised spring wheat production in many countries up from the 2020 August prediction. The wheat production in United States, France, Germany and Romania decreased 2.5%, 2.1%, 4.1% and 4.4% respectively, with smaller inter-annual changes as compared to August 2020. Among the southern hemisphere countries, wheat in Argentina was affected by severe drought and the wheat production fell sharply by 15.7% to 14.866 million tons. In contrast, Australia received abundant rainfall in the wheat-producing area, which provides sufficient water for rain-fed wheat. Wheat output increased by 8.57 million tons, an increase of 44.3% from 2019. This is the largest production increase among the 43 countries. At the same time, the total wheat output of the world's top ten wheat producing countries increased by 20.63 million tons, or 4.3%, ensuring the stability of the global wheat supply situation.

Soybean: In 2020, the production of the world's top 9 soybean producing countries increased at various degrees: For the top 3 producing countries, the United States, Brazil, and Argentina, our estimates are at 104.519 million tons, 101.04 million tons and 52.587 million tons, respectively, representing a slight increase in production. China, India, Canada and Russia ranking 4-7 in soybean production, also achieved minor increases in their production, mainly attributed to both increases in soybean planted area and yield. However, the soybean cultivation in other minor soybean producing countries decreased and the total soybean production of all other none major producing countries is only 25.095 million tons, a sharp decrease by 16.1%. In general, the global soybean market is stable.