May 10, 2007

Drought may imperil Bulgaria's wheat crops

Some 40 percent of all autumn wheat crops are doomed perish unless there is rainfall within the next couple of days, head of the Union of Thracian Grain Producers, Krasimir Avramov said.

Bulgaria's wheat region Dobrudja was the hardest struck of the long dry spell with no rain over the past 45 days. Representatives from the regions of Knezha, Shoumen, Targovishte, Vidin and Vratsa said that if the harvest is slashed by 40 percent, it will reach the critical level of 2.2 to 2.5 million tonnes.

Last autumn, farmers planted more than 1 million hectares under milling wheat.

On the average, Bulgaria harvests 3 to 4 million tonnes of wheat yearly.