The agricultural sector, affected by the war in Ukraine and the drought of 2022. The wheat harvest was 47% lower
After a year of drought and war that affected the agricultural sector, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry estimates a better harvest in 2023. More than 830 thousand tons of fruit are expected to be harvested. At the same time, it is estimated that over 21 thousand hectares will be planted with potatoes, 1.8 thousand hectares with cabbage and over 6 thousand hectares with cucumbers.
The rainfall of the last few days has given hope to both the farmers and the central authorities. The Secretary of State from the Ministry of Agriculture, Vasile Șarban, stated for Radio Moldova that this year a good harvest is also expected from the wheat sown last autumn. According to him, a rich harvest is expected for both canola and autumn barley. "Autumn wheat is around 302.5 thousand hectares, it must rise as a surface to 320-330 thousand hectares. Thus, if it will be a good year, the harvest should reach 1.3 million to 1.5 million tons of wheat", Vasile Şarban explained. In order to obtain a rich harvest of autumn wheat, it is necessary to respect the technological and agrotechnical procedures, said the director of the Research Institute for Field Crops "Selection", Boris Boincean. "It's too late to say because spring is still to come. We often lose wheat in the spring. There are fluctuations when it is 14 degrees during the day and -12 at night. Then there is the greatest danger. But not until there is imminent danger. But one thing I want to tell you is that the steppe varieties created in our conditions more easily tolerate, more easily go through these fluctuations, through these physiological stress", mentioned Boris Boincean. In the Republic of Moldova, annually, wheat is sown on an area of approximately 350 thousand hectares. According to the data presented by the National Bureau of Statistics, the harvest of 2022 was smaller compared to 2021. Thus, according to preliminary estimates, the wheat harvest was about 828 thousand tons or 47% less.
