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Rye: Remaining a small local player

May 31, 2018 at 11:58 AM , Starry Night Ltd.
Crop is not yet economically significant for widespread cultivation.
Crop is not yet economically significant for widespread cultivation.
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SOFIA. Local consumption has recently increased, but the majority share is exported abroad.

BULGARIA. During the past few years, farmers have increased the cultivation of the grain. For harvest 2017-18, the nation collected aggregate output of 17,272 mt, realizing an average yield of 2.1 mt/ha, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. However, less than half the production is consumed locally while the larger share is shipped abroad.

Rye: Yet, a small local player

Although local demand for rye staple has increased in recent years – due to noticeable changes in dietary styles of people who value the characteristics of the grain, the cultivation of the crop is not widespread at all throughout the country. The agricultural product still lacks the mass-market attractiveness of other locally grown grains such as wheat, for instance, which enjoys a much higher economic significance as a raw input in the food, industrial and livestock sectors. A case in point, for the upcoming harvest, farmers sowed 1,141,979 ha of wheat throughout the country while for rye, farmers allocated just 6,868 ha in specific areas within a few regions.

 Harvested land & aggregate output of rye, yearly

                      (period 2015 – 2017)

                         area units in HA

                       output units in MT

Harvested area 2015

Harvested area 2016

Harvested area 2017

Available area 2018*

6,304

7,468

8,217

6,868

                          Aggregate output

11,210

15,178

17,272

n/a

* estimates

 

Source: Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture

Locally, rye is easily cultivated in mountainous areas, which are characterized by sloppy terrains, acidic, salty or poorly treated soils, and as a result, the agricultural map of the grain is limited to particular regions. The majority of rye is cultivated and harvested throughout the general South regions, as within the central South, farmers usually collect the highest outputs. Farmers will enter fields to harvest the grain in approximately a month.

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