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More than 94% of Romania’s area under wheat has been harvested so far, Agriculture Minister Petre Daea informed on Wednesday, adding that that this year's yields will meet Romania's domestic demand and there will also be export availability.
He said at the beginning of a government meeting that harvesting was sped up to prevent the loss of crops due to shattering.
"The natural phenomena of storms and over-ripeness could cause yield decreases. We still have almost four percent to harvest inside the Carpathian arc, the counties of Mures, Covasna and Brasov. (...) The gratifying thing is that there are good crops. ( ...) The yields are between three tonnes and 8,500 kilograms of wheat, which guarantees that, on the one hand, the demand for consumption in a given area is met and there are possibilities of exchanges between counties. All in all, we can say, and I will you tell you precisely when we have the last harvested area, that we have the entire amount of wheat to meet the domestic demand and then some for export," said Daea.
According to the minister, 200,000 hectares under corn and sunflower are damaged, but there are not and there will not be problems in the irrigated areas, Agerpres.
"Regarding the crops that create problems for us or the weather creates problems, corn and sunflowers are affected. Control teams that are established by order of the prefect move to the field, they determine in each area the degree of damage, what the losses are, they draw up the proper documentations (...) and promptly submit a centralised report to the Ministry of Agriculture. (...) We are now at over 200,000 ha that would be affected to various degrees. Various degrees mean both fully damaged and 30%-40%-50% damaged. There are no problems and there will be no problems in the irrigated areas, although in the southern part of the country we have pumping stations outside the possibility of sucking water due to the low level of the Danube," said Daea.
He added that together with the Ministry of the Environment a way of working was established as need may be.
"The warning that is given for a certain portion of the Danube should be interpreted on the ground, so that we do not plan a restriction that would affect the continuity or continuation of the irrigation activity in the field. (...) It means that today, although we have low levels in the last part of the Danube's course, the levels at the site still ensure the required suction capacity and level of exploitation. There, therefore, the irrigation systems work. In the irrigated perimeter, crops are not affected," explained Daea.
He added that he had meetings with processors and producers in order to put in place a concrete plan, based on a piece of legislation, to boost produce processing.
