Bulgaria to harvest lowest sunseed crop in a decade

A new USDA FAS/Sofia report estimates a reduction in Bulgaria’s oilseed crop in MY 2024/25 due to extremely hot and dry weather conditions in July and August. FAS/Sofia estimates the rapeseed crop at 190,000 tons, 9% less than last year and 36% less than two years ago. The estimate is based on preliminary crop data, which show a decrease in average yields. In MY 2023/24 Bulgaria was a net importer of rapeseed with trade growth driven by the expansion of domestic processing capacity, and this trend is expected to continue in MY 2024/25. Meanwhile, Bulgaria’s Ministry of Agriculture reported an additional reduction in harvested area based on updated preliminary harvest data from 75,500 ha in early June to 70,000 ha as of August. This is 12% lower than the area harvested in MY 2023/24. The data also shows a 5.7% decrease in average rapeseed yield (2.48 t/ha) and a 26.2% decrease in production (172 thousand tons) compared to MY 2023/24. The sunseed crop is estimated to fall to 1.7 ...