Government vows to maintain food security in Moldova

The food security in Moldova will be ensured in the next year, stated the minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Anatolie Gorodenco, cited by Info-Prim Neo. The statement was made in the context of the price increase of wheat on the international market. The situation on the grain market of Moldova has been discussed within the frameworks of a joint session, meeting officials representing the ministries of Local Public Administration, Economy and Commerce, and also chairmen of raion councils, major producers and exporters of grains, directors of large bakeries, and zoo-technical enterprises. Gorodenco mentioned that, the volume allocated for food security in 2006, constitutes 426,000 tonnes of wheat, the annual necessities representing 345,000 tonnes. 57,000 tonnes of wheat have already been accumulated in the state reserve, the minister mentioned. In order to prevent the increase in prices for bread, the specialized ministry worked out a plan providing for measures for supplying urban major bakeries, especially “Franzeluta” JSC, with raw material till the harvest of 2007. The examination of the available quantities of wheat intended for food security per each raion proved that 21 raions are provided with the needed quantity of raw material for panification, 6 raions will complete their reserves from the administrated territories. Basarabeasca, Cahul, Calarasi, Nisporeni, municipalities of Chisinau and Balti do not hold the necessary quantity in their territories. In order to solve this situation, a plan of measures has been worked out, concerning the constant supply of bakeries with raw material for the period from January to August 2007. This year’s wheat crop totalled 863,000 tonnes, compared to about 1,000,000 tonnes in 2005. The reduction was due to the droughty autumn and the winter frosts which affected an important share of the crops. Grain producers stated that they will sell wheat at a price of at least 2.5 lei/kg, or they will stock it. According to estimations, the price of wheat will maintain an average increase rate of about 10 to 11% in the following period. The arid climate of the last year resulted in a poor yield for several wheat producing countries – Russia, Ukraine, the USA, and Australia. International prices of wheat revolve around the level of USD 150 per tonne, which represent a record price for the last 10 years.