site.btaWheat Growers in Dobroudja Expect High Yields at High Costs

Wheat Growers in Dobroudja Expect High Yields at High Costs

Dobrich, Northeastern Bulgaria, June 13 (BTA) - Farmers in Bulgaria's main wheat-growing area, Dobroudja, expect very good yields from the new crop, which, however, will come at high costs in a year of warm winter and cool spring. Wheat in Dobroudja will be harvested from 119,400 hectares of fields.

It has been a very unusual agricultural year. There was practically no snow in the winter and the fields had only a month's rest before the long, wet spring. Due to the need to fertilize the soil and fight moisture-induced diseases, the costs of wheat-growing have soared, Dobroudja Agricultural Institute Director Ivan Kiryakov said, interviewed by BTA.

Where farmers have fulfilled the technical requirements and have provided balanced nourishment for the wheat crop, the yield will be high, approximately 6.5 to 7 tonnes per hectare. But because of the large amounts to be harvested, producer prices will hardly reach 300 leva per tonne, compared with 400 to 450 leva five years ago.

This summer's wheat crop will be good in the entire Black Sea region and high-quality grain will be most in demand, Kiryakov predicted.