Farmers from Falesti, Ungheni and Sangerei districts are ready to start to collect sugar beet. The harvesting will last for 2-3 weeks. The producers are yet concerned that the combines can break as the land is very dry.
Nicolae Moraru, chairman of the Association of Sugar Beet Producers, has told IPN that several combines will be set to work in Marandeni village of Falesti district in the evening of August 20 in order to see if they can cope with the dry land. The situation in northern Moldova is better, but things can change as vey hot weather was forecast for the next days.
According to Nicolae Moraru, practically all the producers agreed to start harvesting the sugar beet earlier so as not to lose the crops. “A plant that committed itself to processing the sugar beet needs about 4.5 tonnes of sugar beet daily to work in normal regime,” said the leader of the sugar beet producers.
The harvest this year is expected to be by 50% higher than last year. But the crops were affected by the August drought and started to use their own reserves of water. The farmers who hope for a higher yield are waiting for rain, but Nicolae Moraru considers that they risk sustaining losses if they do not begin harvesting now.
