Wheat harvest, "less but good quality"

Harvested grain production this summer totaled nearly six million tons, of which wheat harvest was over 80 percent, respectively 4.78 million tons, according to data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture.

"This year wheat harvest was 4.78 million tons, winter and spring barley, wheat barley , totaled 985,000 tons and rape only 175,000 tons. Though wheat production was weaker in terms of quantity than last year, quality indicators are very good.

“Farmers have the financial resources and properly fertilized, but rainfall came and it was wheat in training and I can say that we have 100 percent quality wheat”, said the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Agriculture, Daniel Botănoiu.

According to him, the international market for wheat was released due to transactions in the Black Sea, but also in Europe.

“From the data received from the European association of millers, international wheat market was unlocked. Iran took from India two million tons of wheat, Kazakhstan has covered the need from Mediterranean, not just from the Black Sea, and Ukraine and Russia did not ban the rain exports, which means that there is a good quantity for export”, said Daniel Botănoiu.

Regarding the export of wheat, he said that until now were exported from the new harvest only 450,000 tons, but on the contracts from 2011.

This year, the producer price of wheat increased by 20-25 percent, from 0.85 euro / kg to 1.1 lei / kg.

Romania's wheat production in 2011 was 7.103 million tons, while the barley is 1.355 million tons.

Last year, the largest grain export earnings, about 90 percent, were made from the sales of wheat and maize on the foreign markets and the total quantity of cereals placed on foreign markets has exceeded 4,000,000 tons.

Translated by Alexandra-Diana Mircea
MTTLC, Bucharest University