Due to the rains, European cereals may be of better quality

The European Union’s MARS crop monitoring unit has made limited changes to its crop forecasts, arguing that exceptionally high rainfall in several countries is likely to affect grain quality rather than yields. In several Western European countries this month, torrential rain caused fatal floods and raised concerns about crop damage, but MARS said that while wet weather delayed harvesting fall crops, it had a limited impact on yields. In eastern Romania, conditions that are too humid until the end of June are conducive to the possible spread of pests and diseases that are likely to reduce crop quality, they added. Meanwhile, the heatwaves in central Italy, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia have negatively affected the final growth stages of autumn crops and the development of spring crops where they are not adequately irrigated, they said. Rainfall has reduced autumn crop forecasts in some regions of Poland and Slovakia, and rain is also needed in Bulgaria to sustain spring crop ...