Drought has hit the corn harvest in Bulgaria hard

This year, drought has severely impacted Bulgaria’s corn harvest, with official figures indicating that 37,000 decaliters of crops have been completely destroyed. The Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture is calling for the urgent activation of the European Agricultural Reserve to assist affected farmers.

Even where there is a harvest, it is below the critical minimum. Some farmers are refusing to harvest because they believe it’s not worth the effort.

“The corn yield is 150-250 kg/dca, which is extremely low. Sometimes it’s as low as 10 kg/dca,” explains Valentin Vasilev.

“The yield turned out to be even worse than our pessimistic forecasts. We were expecting at least 400 kg/dca, but the final yield was 200 kg/dca,” explains Ivelina Papazova.

“Dobrudzha ended the season with an average yield of 217 kg. “On our farm, where we are now, I’ll give you some examples: in 2021, the average corn yield was 750 kg, last year it was 400 kg, and now it’s 230 kg,” explained Radostina Zhekova, Chair of the Dobrudja Grain Producers’ Union and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Agricultural Council.

Tags: Bulgaria, drought, crop forecast