Romania's 2009 Wheat/Rye Crop Falls to Prelim 5.29 Mln T on Drought Spell - Agriculture Ministry

The output is in line with earlier estimates and normal for a year marked by a prolonged drought, the ministry said in a written statement.

The average yield from the wheat and rye crops, which totalled 2.26 million hectares, was 2.338 tonnes per hectare.

Wheat output totalled some 7.2 million tonnes last year, data from the ministry's website showed.

This year’s wheat crop fully covers the domestic consumption seen at 3.6 million tonnes and creates opportunities for exports to EU-member states and other countries, the Ministry said in the statement.

The ministry also said that farmers have harvested 569,240 tones of barley this year at an average yield of 2.654 tonnes per hectare and some 267,713 tonnes of oats at an average yield of 1.315 tonnes per hectare.

No comparative figures were immediately available.

The ministry added that it is too early to make projections for this year’s maize crop as the harvest is still in progress.