The sowing of autumn grains started with a delay of almost 10-12 days owing to the precipitation that fell in the first half of September. The works go on. About 446,000 hectares are to be sowed with autumn grain crops this autumn, the head of the Phtytotechnical Products Service Ivan Guci has told IPN.
By October 9, 83% of the farmland was ready for sowing. The main grain crop – the wheat – occupies 130,000 hectares or 40% of the sowed areas. The sowing of this crop will be finished by October 20. The autumn barley was sowed on an area of 18,000 or 32% of the projected areas. The works will be completed by the end of October.
The autumn rape was sowed on an area of almost 18,000 hectares. The weather conditions are forecast to be favorable for the development of this crop.
Some farmers already finished the sowing of autumn wheat even if the temperatures were by 7-8 degrees Celsius lower than usual. The head of the Grain Producers Association Nicanor Buzovoi told IPN the farmers are hopeful that the low temperatures will not affect the development of the crops. There were years when the weather in Moldova was cold at the start of autumn, but the crops sowed in this period weren’t seriously affected.
“Everything depends on how long the autumn is and how warm it is. When it is warm in November, the autumn grains develop normally,” said Nicanor Buzovoi. He also said that the harvest of corn began. Up to 7.5 tonnes of corn grains per hectare have been harvested from the areas that weren’t affected by hail. This is twice more than last year.
