The harvest has started in Békés County

(Photo: Pixabay)

It was said at the meeting of the harvest coordination committee that autumn barley was sown on 45,677 hectares in the county, 95 percent of the areas have already been harvested, the average yield is 5.2 tons per hectare, which is better than last year, but about one ton less than expected. “The hectoliter weight is very bad, one out of thirty farmers is good, the vast majority are below standard,” the experts said. The reason for this could be the appearance of various diseases (viral, fungal diseases, rusts), as well as the fact that a significant amount of aphids and their damage were detected this year, which is why a lot of insecticides were used. In the case of contracts concluded in advance, the prices are around HUF 62-65 thousand per ton; the market price is currently HUF 42-46 thousand.

Winter wheat was sown on 106,693 hectares, the harvest has begun, but at county level the harvest is still only 3 percent

Autumn cabbage rape will be harvested from 10,429 hectares this year, so far 1,043 hectares are ready; the average yield is 3.1 tons per hectare. Rye has already been harvested from the entire 704-hectare area, but in Békés it is mostly sown as fallow and harvested green. Compared to last year, the area sown in the county increased by 47 percent in the case of winter barley, 6 percent in the case of winter wheat, and 30 percent in the case of winter cabbage rape, probably as a result of last year’s drought. Spring frost damage is making its impact felt: farmers reported a very poor crop of cherries, and apricots will not be very productive.

Experts do not expect significant drought damage this year

While 240 millimeters of precipitation fell in the 2021/2022 growing season for autumn-sown crops, it was 469 millimeters in the same period of 2022/2023. It was said at the meeting of the harvest coordination committee: there are no problems related to storage for the time being, because the wheat has not been harvested yet, but there may be in the future, since the sowing areas have gone in the direction of the grain growers, and in some warehouses there are crops imported from abroad. A good crop of sunflowers and corn is promised, but there will be storage problems when harvesting them.

MTI