Bulgaria sees decline in grain production

Bulgarian farmers are concerned about rising production costs, which could negatively affect next year’s crops.

Bulgaria’s production of major cereals is expected to decline in 2022-2023 due to a summer drought and pest infestation, according to a report from the Global Agricultural Information Network of the Foreign Agriculture Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The USDA forecasts this year’s corn harvest at 2.8 million tons, 18% below the 2021-2022 crop. The winter grain harvest is forecast to be only marginally better, with 6.3 million tons of wheat and 640,000 tons of barley, down 13% and 10% from last year.

As for the 2023-2024 harvest, Bulgarian farmers are expressing concern about rising production costs, which could negatively affect next year’s harvest.

“Farmers are deeply concerned about rising production costs,” the USDA said in a statement. “Many manufacturers have estimated annual growth in their costs of more than 50%, with an official inflation rate of 18% as of August. Fertilizers saw the largest increase in costs, followed by energy, crop protection chemicals and seeds.”

Tags: grain, crop forecast, Bulgaria