January 13, 2011

Poland's grain yield to grow in 2011

The Polish grain crop for 2011 may pick up from levels seen in 2010, a year marred by unfavourable weather conditions that hit the crops, Agriculture Minister Marek Sawicki said Wednesday (Jan 12).

"I believe we experienced all possible misfortunes in 2010, though the effects of excessive soil humidity may still be seen in the 2011 harvest and we do not yet know how the winter will look," he said.

"From the point of view of the sector, this should be a better year, but it does not mean it will be a better year from the point of view of the consumer," said Sawicki. He gave no estimate for this year's crop.

Sawicki added that he expected grain prices to rise in 2011, citing recent heavy flooding in Australia as a key concern.

Poland's grain output in 2010 fell 8.5% from the previous year to 27.3 million tonnes, the statistics office said in December.

The weaker 2010 harvest was a result of increased temperatures and little rain in late summer and early autumn 2009, the time for sowing winter grains, followed by heavy rain that caused floods and hit grain quality in summer 2010.