site.btaRains Revive Hopes of Fine Wheat Crop

Rain that fell in recent weeks has revived hopes that the wheat crop may be fine, after all, National Grain Producers Association Management Board Chair Iliya Prodanov told BTA in an interview on Tuesday.

"It is important what kind of weather we get later in May and in June. It will determine the yield," Prodanov commented. He declined to predict when the wheat harvest will start, because the past two or three weeks came as a surprise after very warm and dry weather in March and April. "If you had asked me three weeks ago, I would have said the wheat yield would be very low and all farmers would have low expectations," he added.

Farmers have storage space for the new wheat crop, Prodanov went on to say. "The price situation has not changed much," he observed. The expert voiced hope that prices will be more normal during the upcoming campaign and the earnings will cover the production costs.

He warned that the international situation is highly volatile and it is hard to predict the future situation in the Black Sea region, whether shipping will be possible or not. The production costs of wheat in Bulgaria are about BGN 2,300 - 2,400 per hectare, and any price level below that would be too low. Prodanov hopes that farmers will be able to get at least 20% above the current price, which is BGN 0.38-0.39 per kilo (FOB) if the wheat is to be exported by sea, while the costs are around BGN 0.48/kilo, based on an average yield of 5 tonnes/hectare.

The state aid to offset the damage caused to Bulgarian farmers by the Ukraine war will reach all beneficiaries by the end of the week after it was delayed slightly for some recipients, Prodanov said. A second payment was legitimized after the European Commission extended the Ukraine framework. Talks are pending with the ministers of agriculture and finance before deciding how the funding will be raised, he said.