Grain exporters may count on higher prices than last year if they have the patience to wait two or three months more, Agriculture Minister Valeriu Cosarciuc has told a news conference on Monday, Info-Prim Neo reports. “Farmers may count on higher grain prices than last year, if they sell their product later, in two or three months, when prices are expected to stabilize. There is a tendency for grains to rise in price on international exchanges and they need to wait a little bit, to store their grains at the companies authorized to issue deposit certificates. The Ministry has widely promoted this system of deposit certificates, and now we can see its first benefits for the farmers”, said Cosarciuc. The minister has reported that, so far, there have been harvested 780,000 tonnes of wheat, 250,00 tonnes of barley, 20,000 tonnes of peas and 40,000 tonnes of rape. Some 300,000 tonnes of the harvested wheat is for food consumption. Added to the 60,000 tonnes stored in state deposits, this is a sufficient amount to guarantee the country's food security. There is also a potential to export 240,000 tonnes of fodder wheat, 50,000 tonnes of barley and 25,000 tonnes of rape. According to Cosarciuc, the crops that are yet to be harvested are all of a better quality. “We expect to harvest 1.4 million tonnes of corn, compared with 1 million tonnes in 2009; 500,000 tonnes of sunflower seeds, compared to 300,000 tonnes last year; and 900,000 tonnes of sugar beet, compared to 300,000 tonnes in 2009. So we expect the situation of the agriculture to improve at the end of the year”.