Rains hamper sowing in Zala County

(Photo: PIxabay)

The farmers started sowing already at the end of January, but when the weather turned cold, they stopped the work – informed Krisztián Sabján. The planned sowing area for spring barley is 1,200 hectares, more than 70 percent of which has been sown with grain. Sunflowers were planted on 150 hectares and corn on almost 500 hectares. According to the plans, corn will be grown on about 30,000 hectares, and the sunflower sowing area is around 9,000 hectares. The cold weather and heavy rainfall hinder the sowing of spring field crops, but at the same time favor autumn crops – the county president indicated. As a whole, the stands are developing well, moderately, there are only a few strongly developed, bright green fields in the area.

Last fall, wheat was sown on 30,100 hectares, barley on 5,780 hectares, and triticale on 1,300 hectares.

The 13,635 hectares of autumn cabbage-rape were top-fertilized in early spring, and in a large area, the second dose was already applied to the fields. Due to the drought in recent years, farmers are afraid that the nutrients applied later will not be able to be used – explained Krisztián Sabján. In summary, in the coming weeks, the soil must be prepared and the spring crops planted in an area exceeding 50,000 hectares. Farmers should also pay attention to autumn-sown stocks, because due to the high rainfall and warming, fungal diseases and the appearance of pests should be expected, he added.

MTI