July 16, 2012

Hungary's 2012 wheat crop down at four million tonnes

Compared to last year's record production, Hungary's 2012 wheat crop dropped but in line with preliminary estimates at four million tonnes, a government official said, state news agency reported.

A lengthy drought and record heat weighed on wheat crop yields with the national average at 3.7 tonnes per hectare, below last year's average of 4.2 tonnes per hectare, state secretary Gyorgy Czervan said.

Hungarian farmers would be able to export a total of one million tonnes of wheat from this year's crop, while fully meeting local demand, the state secretary said.

It was too early to assess damage from the dry weather on the yields of Hungary's second most important crop, feed corn, Czervan said.