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Rapeseed: Do not be so happy – a slight increase in planted acreages

April 4, 2018 at 12:18 PM , Starry Night Ltd.
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As if foreign demand had been too powerless to shed enough light on which direction cultivation strategies should take. Weather conditions are what matter right now.

BULGARIA. The heydays of swift rapeseed exports have long passed. Currently, a few metric tons may or may not cross the borders of the country per month. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, remaining stocks are accounted for 34,504 mt.

Rapeseed: a slight increase in gross area

Although locally produced rapeseed is swiftly bought out and consequently exported – internal demand is limited on a yearly basis –  the country still remains a relatively small producer of rapeseed within the region. Local farmers should have long learned the benefits of the saying “Fortune favors the bold” and confidently increased future plots. For the upcoming harvest, farmers planted 181,832 ha. The number is not that different from that of last year – a slight increase of 3.4% – although the country has exported 93.53% of its aggregate output so far in the marketing season.

       Harvest 2017-18

(01.07.2017 – 30.03.2018)

          units in MT

Beginning availability

25,000

Aggregate output

458,110

Imports

32,655

Domestic consumption

52,800

   oil & biodiesel production

52,800

Exports to the world

428,461

   to EU markets

389,965

   to rest of the world

38,496

Source: Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture

Weather is crucial for success

However, the growing issue facing farmers right now is not so much planted acreages as it is the weather within a month period. Fieldwork should have resumed by now, but because of abundant water reserves in fields, resulting from recent snow melting and continuous rains, some farmers still could not enter fields. In the Northeast – the region that produces the highest share of rapeseed on an annual basis – farmers have complained of overflooded plots, foreseeing a total destruction of crops in some fields. Expecting dried weather to allow them to spray, farmers are definitely missing optimal time for husbandry work. Although planted acreages for the upcoming harvest have slightly been increased, expected output could well be lower than that of harvest 2017-18 because of early unfavorable weather conditions!

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