August 8, 2013

Bulgaria posts record-high grain harvest in eight years

Bulgaria's wheat harvest this year was the highest in eight years, according to the country's Agriculture Minister Dimitar Grekov on Wednesday (Aug 7).

"The levels are the highest in eight years, about 4.7 million tonnes of grain. The harvest is also of very high quality," Grekov said.

The figure included about four million tonnes of wheat and 700,000 tonnes of barley. About 96% of 1.1 million hectares seeded with wheat this year have been harvested already, as well as 99.5% of the 182,500 hectares seeded with barley.

The area seeded with rye was on the rise, but only 9,700 hectares were seeded with rye this year, of which 7,100 hectares have been harvested already, yielding 13,200 tonnes.

However, the rapeseed harvest this year was disappointing, Grekov said. The yield was 328,000 tonnes with 93% of 145,300 hectares already harvested, he said.