• This year's wheat harvest will be weaker than last year's - at the end of August estimates showed a decrease of at least 20% compared to 2017 - but as the harvest is delayed, due to water accumulated in the field, the losses will grow, says Laurenţiu Baciu, president of the League of Associations of Agricultural Producers in Romania (LAPAR).
According to the head of LAPAR, for agricultural crops, 2018 was one of the most capricious of the last few decades, because absolutely all the factors that nature can develop were present: drought, floods, hail, storms and excess humidity .
In addition, the African swine fever (ASF) has also appeared, which could massively influence grain exports, especially wheat and corn, crops that actually bring the highest revenues in the agri-food trade. Last year, Romania's wheat and corn exports reached 1,73 billion euros.
"We don't know how far the losses will go"
The head of LAPAR claimed in August that the wheat harvest had not yet finished, as there were areas where the water did not allow machines to enter the field.
"I don't know if from July 1 until now, near the end of August, accumulated every hour, we had five good days for wheat harvest. It's hard to harvest in such conditions, quite a lot of damage is produced and we don't know how far the losses will go, because the process is still going on. The production will certainly be weaker this year, without a doubt, at least with the percentages that I have already announced, about 20%", the president of LAPAR declared for AGERPRES.
Less wheat for baking
"From the point of view of breadable wheat, it is difficult to say now how much is breadable and how much is for fodder. It is certain that compared to last year or compared to two years ago, the percentage between the two has rolled and thus we have a larger amount of wheat for fodder and less for baking", declared Laurenţiu Baciu. Regarding the price of wheat, the representative of the farmers' association points out that it is not forming now and it is premature to estimate how it will evolve.
"Probably it can fluctuate when there will not be enough merchandise or it will not be of very good quality, then the prices will play harder. We have to wait, to see what comes next from a meteorological point of view, but also the end of the wheat harvest campaign. As I told you, there are still large areas and the production per hectare is decreasing day by day".
