site.btaAverage Grain Harvest in Dobrich Region Expected at 450 kg/decare - Experts

Average Grain Harvest in Dobrich Region Expected at 450 kg/decare - Experts

Dobrich, Northeastern Bulgaria, April 18 (BTA) - Expecting the new harvest, grain producers in Dobrich region hope for spring rain. According to their first forecasts, the average yield per 0.1 ha is expected at 450 kg.

After the long winter there are no compromised areas sown with wheat, but they need more water, the Chairman of the Dobrudzha Union of Grain Producers, Kostadin Kostadinov, told BTA.

This year the areas under wheat in Dobrich region, the largest producer of bread wheat in Bulgaria, exceed 120,000 ha.

Experts from the regional Agriculture Directorate and other institutions forecast about 450 kg per 0.1 ha after a first inspection of the fields. About 50 per cent of the fields are in very good condition, the specialists said. Nearly 45 per cent are in good condition and 5.0 per cent are in average condition. So far no problems with the health of the plants or pests have been registered.

Barley is also expected to yield about 400 kg/0.1 ha. Forty-five per cent of the fields are in very good condition and the rest are in good condition.

Because of the usual dry period in May, the vegetation period of sunflower, planting now begins earlier. The new hybrids selected abroad can now be sown even when soil temperatures are 8-9C, expert Kiril Zhendov said.

Kostadinov also confirmed that foreign sunseed hybrids are sown across the region because they have higher potential. Mass planting harvests reach 350-400 kg of seed per 0.1 ha compared to 200 kg from Bulgarian hybrids, grain producers say.

In his words, this spring areas under sunseed in the region may increase slightly and may reach some 90,000 ha. Fifty per cent of the fields have already been sown. He explains the increase with the good return last year when 1.0 tonne of seed traded for 690 leva.

Sunflower hybrids raised at the Dobrudzha Institute of Agriculture are sown in Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, and Russia, scholars from the institution countered, pointing out other qualities of their products.

Along with the hope for a good harvest, farmers in Dobrich region also expect the grain market to open. Trade is currently at a very low tide and prices have fallen to 300-310 leva per tonne of wheat, Zhendov said.

Arab markets have become insecure and with the opportunity for Ukraine to export grain to the European Union tax-free trade with Spain has also died down for Bulgarian producers.

Last year 671,000 tonnes of wheat were harvested in Dobrich region but farmers cannot say how much grain now remains in the granaries.