Losing favor among local farmers
July 7, 2017 at 7:57 AM ,
Starry Night Ltd.
The great majority of barley was harvested right before the recent hailstorms hit, and as a result, possible damages will be minor, if of any significance.
Barley: losing favor among local farmers
SOFIA. This year, farmers are harvesting 130,068 ha of barley fields. By the end of last week, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, estimated average yield on a national level stood at close to 5.0 mt/ha. Aggregate average yield of harvest 2016-17 was estimated at 4.3 mt/ha. Even though average yield is estimated to be higher, aggregate output this year could well be somewhat less than 600,000 mt because farmers planted by about 20.3% less land than they did during the previous year. Soon the sky will clear for the results to appear.
Harvest 2016-17 (01.07.2016 - 30.06.2017) |
|
Carry over |
4,900 mt |
Domestic output |
697,787 mt |
Domestic consumption |
321,900 mt |
Exports to the world |
373,796 mt |
Source: Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture
Reasons for cultivating lower acreages of barley
The price of barley is much lower than that of wheat or, indeed, that of rapeseed. In addition, exports have been weak on a yearly basis. A case in point, according to the Agricultural Ministry, during the marketing season of harvest 2016-17, encompassing the period 04.07.2016 - 02.07.2017, via Varna seaport were exported 17,379 mt of barley, which is 88.3% less than what had been exported via the same sea route the year before. Via Burgas seaport, during the same period, only 6,500 mt of the crop were shipped abroad. In comparison, the demand for other locally grown crops have been consistently increasing!
Barley, Bulgaria |
|
Type |
EUR/kg |
feed barley |
0.127 |
EXW Bulgaria |