ZAGREB, 3 July 2022 - It is estimated that the area sown with wheat this year increased by 16,000 hectares to 160,000 (+11.1%) compared to 2021 and that areas sown with maize and soya beans also increased, while those sown with rapeseed and sugar beets decreased, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics said this week.

The area sown with maize this year was 290,000 hectares (+0.7%) and the area sown with soya beans was 87,000 hectares (+1.2%).

On the other hand, the area sown with rapeseed was 24,000 hectares, 20% less than in 2021, and the area sown with sugar beets was 9,000 hectares (-10%).

The areas sown with sunflowers and potatoes were the same as last year, 41,000 and 9,000 hectares, respectively.

Data on first estimates of areas sown with important crops refer to the situation as of 1 June. 

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ZAGREB, 2 March 2022 - Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković and farmers, who held talks on the  stocks of cereals, concluded that there were sufficient amounts of wheat and that there was no need for concern in light of the Ukraine crisis, the ministry said in a press release on Wednesday.

Farmers reported that there are sufficient stocks and there is no need to worry about any possible shortage of wheat.

Noting that Ukraine is the fifth largest wheat exporter and the biggest exporter of seed oils, participants at the meeting agreed that due to the crisis in Ukraine the sowing season will be particularly challenging and the survival of other agricultural products is an important factor for farmers.

The meeting also discussed the impact of the increased price of gas and mineral fertilisers on the sowing season and also the autumn sowing season.

Representatives of the meat industry commended the ministry's measures so far but expressed their fear over current challenges facing the livestock breeding sector.

Vučković underscored that she shared their concern over market disruptions, assessing the further interest in the investment cycle as positive, which began with a call for applications to invest in repro centres and continued with investments in fattening facilities.

She added that during 2021 Croatia managed to notify a large number of measures before the European Commission, and will continue to do so with the objective of finding a solution to these specific circumstances.

The ministry recalled that it is preparing a programme for agriculture and fisheries, valued at HRK 250 million, and recalled the government's package of measures to buffer increased energy prices, including the lowering of VAT on food and agricultural inputs to the 5-percent rate.

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ZAGREB, 26 Feb 2022 - The size of the areas sown with crops during the 2021 autumn sowing season in Croatia increased 2.8% to 260,000 hectares, compared to the previous autumn season, according to the data provided by the national statistical office (DZS).

During the 2021 autumn sowing, the areas sown with cereals increased 5.8% on the year.

Broken down by type of cereals, wheat amounted to 67.8% of sown cereals last autumn. It was planted on 160,000 hectares or 10.3% more on the year.

Barley follows with a share of 23.7% , being sown on 56,000 hectares, up 1,8%.

Oilseed rape was planted on 24,000 hectares, down by 20% or by 6,000 hectares fewer than the year before.

The sowing of oilseed rape amounted to 9.2% in the total areas sown with crops during the 2021 autumn sowing season.

ZAGREB, July 8, 2020 - The harvest of cool-season cereals -- wheat and barley -- as well as is in full swing in eastern Croatia and is likely to be completed in the next two weeks, the Osijek-Baranja County chamber of commerce said on Wednesday.

This year's wheat yield is likely to be higher than last year, going from 6-5 tonnes per hectare in small farms to 10.5 tonnes per hectare in fields cultivated by big agribusinesses.

The chamber's officials said that the county's yield is about 10 percent higher in comparison to 2019.

The price of wheat is likely to be 0.90-1.20 kuna per kilogram in the wholesale buy-up, depending on the quality of the crop. Under the regulations adopted for quality parameters, wheat is graded in five categories from premium to quality No. 4 as the lowest, according to test weight, the content of foreign material, protein content, and so on.

Last autumn, wheat was cultivated on 138,000 hectares in Croatia, of which 45,000 were in Osijek-Baranja County.

As far as barley is concerned, the total area sown with this culture was 57,000. The average yield is forecast at six tonnes per hectare.

The total area of rapeseed was 38,000, and its yield is likely to be lower by 10% than last year when it was 3 tonnes per hectare. The purchase price has been set at HRK 2.45-2.55 per kilogram.

A kilogram of wheat gives 70 to 80 decagrams of flour, around 60 decagrams goes into a kilo of bread. At the same time the price of bread in Croatia has reached nearly 10 Kuna, elsewhere in Europe even more. But in European markets this most important grain sells for 5 to 10 percent higher than in Croatia