Farmers forced to sell wheat cheaper

The wheat for the state reserve is purchased at a lower price than the one announced by the authorities. The acquisitions are made according to the principle ‘the lowest price – the best quality’. For the offers to be tempting, the farmers have to reduce the price so that they could sell the wheat. Mihai Sterpu, division head at the Agency for Material Reserves, Public Acquisitions and Humanitarian Aid, has told Info-Prim Neo that the agricultural produces in the ten Moldovan districts where auctions have been held offered the wheat at a piece that is by about 5% lower than the price announced by the state. The authorities proposed a price of 3,000-3,500 lei per tonne of wheat, depending on the content of gluten. But the farmers sold the wheat for an average of 2,900 lei per tonne. The foot wheat offered by the farmers contains about 18-23% of gluten, which the minimum accepted amount, Mihai Sterpu said. The quality of the wheat is determined at the local laboratories subordinated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry. Some 29,000 tonnes of food wheat have been offered at the ten auctions held until present, about two times more than the volume fixed for these districts (13,000 tonnes). Auctions have been held in the districts of Orhei, Telenesti, Sangerei, Falesti, Straseni, Floresti, Cantemir, Ungheni, Cahul, and Soroca. The auctions will continue until August 29. About 40,000 tonnes of food wheat of the 2008 crop will be purchased for the state reserve overall. The money for the wheat will be paid within 10 banking days of the day when the wheat is taken to the storehouse. The auctions to purchase wheat for the state reserve have been held since August 11.