Source: Ukragroconsult (Ukraine)
Romanian farmers have started harvesting sunflowers due to the unusually high temperatures. The weather conditions led to a drop in yields of up to 90 percent. While the average yield last year was 2-3 tons/hectare, this year it has dropped to 1 ton/hectare. EuroNews reports.
In July, the temperature was over +40℃. And this extreme heat is still causing problems for many – not least the sunflower and maize farmers.
“If in a good year we achieve, let’s say, between 2.5 and 3 tons/hectare, this year we hope for yields of 1 ton/hectare. But given the current situation, we definitely won’t achieve that,” says farmer Dumitru Bita.
He reports that farmers in his region of Oltenia were forced to harvest the sunflowers three weeks earlier than in previous years. Some farmers’ crops have been completely burnt.