The corn and sunflower yield forecast has been changed

(Photo: Pixabay)

The area sown in 2024 and the size of the areas declared for drought damage, as well as the estimated yield and quantity of crops, are also presented by Vármegyy, and the data shows the significant difference between the situation of individual regions of our country. The summer drought scorched the entire Southeastern European region based on satellite data. The Joint Research Center of the European Commission (JRC) with its mid-August data based on satellite analysis, compared to the estimates in July, modified the mid-July 6.77 tons/hectare to 6.46 tons/hectare in the case of corn and 2.7 tons/hectare in the case of sunflower, respectively. 73 tons/hectare yield forecast for Hungary. In the period after mid-August, the weather in our region continued to develop unfavorably, so the final crop estimate of the National Chamber of Agriculture on September 3 confirms the processes already visible in August. Based on the final estimate based on producer data, a harvest of 5.15 million tons is expected for corn from 874 thousand hectares with a national average yield of 5.9 tons/hectare, and a harvest of 1.72 million tons is expected for sunflower from 680 thousand hectares with a national average yield of 2.54 tons/hectare this year.

The corn crop quantitatively covers domestic consumption needs

Nationally, out of the 874,000 hectares of corn, farmers reported drought after 214,000 hectares, and in the case of sunflower, after 125,000 hectares out of 680,000 hectares. In the case of the former, the 2024 sowing area and the size of the areas declared for drought damage, as well as the estimated crop yield and crop volume, are presented in a table under the link below. The lowest average yield was reported in Csongrád-Csanád county with 4.1 tons/hectare, and the highest average yield in Vas county with 8.3 tons/hectare.

The sunflower harvest is already well underway, and the corn has also started, the harvest started weeks earlier

Compared to the current prospects, the final harvest data will provide a more accurate picture, but it can already be stated with certainty that the drought caused very significant damage to domestic corn and sunflowers. According to KSH data, looking at the past 15 years, only in 2012 (4.8 million tons) and 2022 (2.8 million tons) was the corn yield forecast lower than this in Hungary, with between 6.3 and 8.4 million tons its yield has fluctuated in recent years.

Not only Hungary, but the entire Southeast European region was hit by an extraordinary summer drought

Compared to mid-July, the corn yield in Bulgaria is forecast to increase by 14 percent (4.64 t/ha), sunflower by 3 percent (2.11 t/ha), and in Romania by 6 percent (3.83 t/ha) and 5 percent (1. 86 t/ha) decreased. Considering the EU as a whole, the JRC indicated a yield of 7.03 tons/hectare for corn and 2.04 tons/hectare for sunflower.

AM