The wheat crop is seen at 6.4 million tons, 800,000 tons lower than in 2011, while the corn crop might go down by 1 million tons to 9.4 million tons.
“The decline can be seen in the fields, not only in statistics. The soil is still lacking water especially in the south and south-western parts of the country,” explains Culita Tarata, chairman of TCE 3 Brazi, a company with EUR100 million in revenue, which manages 56,000 hectares of farmland on the Great Braila Island (SE Romania). “The water deficit has not been offset yet, this indicator is not showing normal levels. The plants entered winter weakened by the drought and came out still weak.”
The Coceral data are among the first forecasts of Romania’s grain harvest in 2012.
The decline of production this year comes after a 2011 when the Romanian farmers had the best crops in five years. The grain, the fodder and technical crops generated about EUR8.5 billion in revenue together for the farmers, according to previous information.
The data available at the moment shows that the wheat and sunflower production will amount to EUR3.2 billion this year, down EUR400 million on 2011, according to ZF calculations based on Cocereal data and current market prices.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)