MOLDOVA (9 February)
Favourable weather conditions and improved access to purchased inputs have prompted farmers to match last year’s winter cereal areas, estimated at 328 000 hectares. Winter cereals are reportedly in satisfactory conditions and prospects are for a repeat of last year’s good harvest. Aggregate cereal harvest in 2004 amounted to some 2.5 million tonnes, some 166 000 tonnes lower than the record harvest gathered in 2002. Last year’s harvest included some 830 000 tonnes of wheat, 190 000 tonnes of barley and 1.4 million tonnes of maize. Favourable weather conditions and significantly higher than average yields contributed to last year’s good harvest. Domestic cereal requirement is estimated at about 2.2 million tonnes per year. Aggregate cereal exports, wheat and maize, during the 2004/05 marketing year is forecast at 220 000 tonnes. During 2003/04 marketing year cereal imports totalled some 259 000 tonnes following crop failure.