According to estimates made by Asaja, the Agrarian Association of Young Farmers in Spain, the winter cereal harvest this year will suffer a 65 per cent reduction.
La cosecha de ???? #cereales de invierno sufrirá un drástico recorte
Apenas superará los 5M de t
Estas son las previsiones de la Sectorial de Cereales de #Asaja:
????https://t.co/GohHGIRl3E pic.twitter.com/wy7sqBkTTZ— Asaja Nacional (@AsajaNacional) June 1, 2023
That percentage equates to a massive 9.4 million tons less compared to last year’s data. Specifically, the high temperatures and the lack of rain during the months of February to May have lowered harvest expectations that were considered normal at the beginning of the season.
Total production of 2.12 million tons of soft wheat is expected. That would include 216,000 tons of durum wheat; 2.41 million tons of barley; 123,000 tons of oats; 31,000 tons of rye and 103,000 tons of triticale (a cross between wheat and rye).
The agrarian organisation pointed out during a meeting in Madrid that the cuts in yields are widespread in practically all of the national cereal areas.
In addition to the drought, another of the main problems that producers have had during this season has been the high production costs.
These have taken place as a consequence of the increase in the prices of energy, seeds, fertilizers and phytosanitary products. It was highlighted that most purchases of goods were made in the summer and autumn of 2022.
Added to the damages caused by the heat and the lack of rain, there is considerable damage registered as a consequence of the wild fauna.
Hungry rabbits, roe deer, wild boars and pigeons have decimated the crops and are causing the abandonment of cereal crops in some areas.
Asaja also detected, for another year, an increase in pests and diseases in these winter crops. These cannot be stopped with the use of phytosanitary products, due to the gradual withdrawal of these active materials, and the prohibition of the controlled burning of stubble.
As a result, the organisation reiterated the ‘imperative need’ for controlled burning to be authorised by the administration, as the only effective pest control measure.
At the same time, they have demanded additional aid from all administrations. In recent months, farmers in eastern EU countries secured an additional €130 million from the EU budget to compensate for the massive influx of grain from Ukraine.
Spain is the second largest recipient of grain exported from Ukraine. Asaja therefore considered that it should receive similar compensation from the EU since the massive influx of Ukrainian grain has caused a significant collapse in the prices of Spanish cereals.
Asaja said it believed that the limitations and prohibitions imposed by the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) go against Spain’s needs to satisfy its demand.
“Just as our production undergoes rigorous export controls, we are asking for the same reciprocity with imports”, they requested.
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