Romania’s agricultural sector faces significant setbacks this year, with the European Commission revising crop yield forecasts further downward due to severe drought and heavy rainfall in key producing regions. 

Grain corn yields are projected to drop to 3 tonnes per hectare - a 10% reduction from last month’s forecast and a staggering 36% decrease compared to last year, Economica.net reported. This figure also accounts for a 38% drop against the five-year average. 

Romania’s corn production drop is now set to be the second most significant in the EU, trailing only Bulgaria, where yields are expected to average 2.84 tonnes per hectare.

The Commission also slashed forecasts for sunflower yields by 12% from the September estimate, bringing expected yields to just 1.54 tonnes per hectare - 18% lower than last year and 31% below the five-year average. Like corn, Romania’s sunflower yields will be the second lowest in the EU, following Bulgaria, with the country recording the sharpest five-year yield decline.

The drastic yield reductions have been attributed to extreme summer heat and prolonged drought, which caused severe stress in Romania’s southern and eastern farming regions. Furthermore, wet conditions hampered harvesting, and flooding likely contributed to crop losses. Rainfall also delayed winter crop sowing in eastern and northern areas, with rapeseed facing particular challenges due to dry shallow soils until mid-September.

Other crops have also been impacted. Soybean yields are projected at 1.71 tonnes per hectare, down 7% from September’s forecast and 20% lower than last year’s yield. This represents a 22% decrease from the five-year average. 

In mid-October, agriculture minister Florin Barbu reported that Romania had harvested 3.5 million tonnes of corn from half the planted area and approximately 1.3 million tonnes of sunflowers. In 2023, the country produced 8.5 million tonnes of corn and 2 million tonnes of sunflowers.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Cornel Putan)