Serbia’s expected wheat harvest this year will allow the country to export 1.5 million tonnes, an official of the Commodity Exchange of Novi Sad, in the northern province of Vojvodina, told SeeNews on July 12.
The state will not be interfering on the domestic wheat market this year as its supplies are sufficient, the official said. Furthermore, the state budget has not provided for expenses for wheat purchase, he added.
This will allow large buyers to determine the price, leaving producers unhappy, the official commented.
Wheat on the domestic market is trading at some 16 dinars (€0.12) per kilogram, VAT excluded, as prices are expected to decline before the end of the harvest.
Last week agriculture minister Snezana Bogosavljevic Boskovic said Serbia expects 20% higher wheat harvest this year.
“It is estimated that more than three million tonnes of wheat will be harvested from the 600,000 hectares on which wheat was sown,” Bogosavljevic Boskovic said.
The average yield of wheat is five tonnes per hectare, while certain producers, especially in the Vojvodina region, achieved yields of six to eight tonnes per hectare, which is closer to the best results in Europe, she noted.