Romania warned that it could export much less corn and sunflower this season as it prioritizes local supplies after drought battered harvests.
Corn exporter
The country was by far the European Union’s biggest corn exporter last season, but output will probably slump significantly this year after the lack of rain destroyed harvests in different parts of the country, Agriculture Minister Petre Daea said in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday.
The drought will also reduce wheat production by about 10-15% from 2021 with an output of 10 million tons, according to Alinda Banica Business Consultancy.
Adverse weather developments combined with the war in neighboring Ukraine have weighed on global grain deliveries, triggering a wave of protectionist food measures as officials try to limit the impact of rising prices.
Irrigation systems
Romania is lagging behind other countries in expanding irrigation systems and faces serious problems as climate change makes extreme weather events more frequent.
With little rain forecast, some farmers have decided to harvest corn earlier than usual to save what they can from crops and use it as fodder or for biofuel production, the minister told Bloomberg.
„The situation this year is very complicated. We intervened as much as we could to increase the level of irrigation, but in many areas, it was not possible, so a large part of the crop is affected,” the agriculture minister said.
European Commission
According to European Commission data, Romania exported 4.3 million tons of maize, by far the largest maize exporter in the EU. It was also the second largest exporter of sunflower seeds. Romania is also a major wheat and barley supplier.
At the beginning of 2022, maize production was estimated at about 14 million tonnes, but in the meantime, farmers have revised the figure down to about eight million tonnes.
Another problem is the drop in water levels, at a time when the Danube is almost half the multiannual average for this time of year and other rivers have dried up.
Water use
More than 200 towns and villages in Romania have introduced restrictions on water use, according to the Romanian Waters National Administration.
The European Commission’s Joint Research Center published the “Drought in Europe – July 2022” report on Monday, an assessment of Europe’s drought situation based on the European Drought Observatory.
The analysis of the evolution and impact of the prolonged drought in the EU shows that a staggering portion of Europe is currently exposed to drought associated with soil moisture deficit in combination with vegetation stress.
Heat stress
Water and heat stress are driving crop yields down from a previously already negative outlook for cereals and other crops.
France, Romania, Spain, Portugal and Italy will need to deal with this reduced crop yield. Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia are also impacted.
Drought hits 1.1 million hectares in Romania, risking stress on grain supplies-agriculture minister
