Romania has enough cereals to cover its domestic demand
Drought has affected a third of Romanias territory but authorities have given assurances that the country has produced enough grain to satisfy its domestic demand
Corina Cristea, 11.08.2022, 14:00
With 300 thousand hectares affected by drought out of its 7 million cultivated with cereals, authorities in Romania are carefully assessing the situation to be able to cope even with the worst-case scenarios. Last year Romania reported record high harvests of 11.3 million tons of wheat but bad weather conditions this year have wreaked havoc on the crops and so have the higher production costs.
This years harvest is lower by 15-18% than in 2021, Romanias Agriculture Minister Petre Daea has admitted.
Petre Daea: “Parts of the entire quantity of cereals harvested will be stored in depots and storehouses, other parts will be delivered to processing plants so that they may turn the grain into flour, others will be dispatched to bakeries and processing plants to meet the domestic demand and of course well see what quantities we can export.”
According to Minister Daea there is enough wheat to cover Romanias domestic needs estimated somewhere around 2.5 – 3 million tons and there is also a surplus, which can be exported. Although the quantity is lower than last year, the grain quality is superior; Minister Daea went on to say.
According to the latest data released, the extremely hot temperatures of late and the prolonged drought have affected crops in three quarters of Romanias counties. The most affected proved to be the corn and sunflower crops where harvest works started earlier that last year. “We are first harvesting the crops affected because they have reached maturity and in this way we can minimize losses. And sunflower harvests will be reaching processing plants shortly” Minister Daea also said
In order to support the farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture has allowed them to turn the affected crops into fodder. Furthermore, the Ministry has also issued a Guide of Good Farming Practices in order to enable farmers to cope with the latest climate changes and severe drought. “Climate change is real, it is no longer fiction, and for this reason we must use all the means we have so that the production level and its proper valorization may positively impact Romanias economy” says Minister Daea. Romania is one of the EUs biggest grain exporters and also an active exporter to the Middle East; the main importer here being Egypt. Romanias grain is exported through the countrys main sea port at Constanta, presently also used by another great grain producer, Ukraine, after the blockade imposed by Russia.
