Although a dry spell this spring will have an adverse impact on the yield of wheat and barley in Croatia, the amount of the harvested wheat supplies this summer is likely to be similar to last year's because more areas are under this cereal now than in 2021, state agency Hina said on Tuesday.

Representatives of the Osijek-Baranja County Chamber of Commerce met with Agriculture Ministry State Secretary Tugomir Majdak on Tuesday. Majdak told a news conference after the meeting that the harvesting season was over at about 60% of the land sown with barley, and that the average yield was up to 7.5 tonnes per hectare.

Wheat harvest is under way in eastern Croatia, and the dry spell led to a 10-20% drop in the yield. However, the area sown with wheat increased to 160,000  hectares and therefore, Croatia can expect a million tonnes of wheat this season.

Croatia’s needs 400,000-450,000 tonnes, enough for export

“In terms of the production of cereals and oil seed plants, Croatia is self-sufficient, but certain disruptions to the market are being caused by the war in Ukraine and increased energy prices,” said Majdak.

He added that the EU grain market is still stable, despite bans which some countries imposed on their cereals exports.

An executive of the Zito Grupa company, Relja Kovacic, said that the yield of the wheat sown by this company ranged between five to eight tonnes per hectare.