Sahagún (León) (EFE).- The winter cereal harvest will be reduced this season to 3.24 million tons in Castilla y León, 37 percent less than the previous year, which places it as the second worst of the century , only behind that of 2017, as advanced this Wednesday in Sahagún (León) by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, Gerardo Dueñas.
The head of Agriculture has specified that this decrease is similar to that suffered in all of Spain, where only 8.3 million tons will be collected.
Dueñas has influenced, during the presentation of the results of the campaign, which highlights the significant decrease in the cultivated area of winter cereal, which amounts to 1.64 million hectares, 10% less than that of the previous campaign and a 12% below the average surface of the last five years.
extreme drought
He also stressed that this campaign has been characterized by “extreme drought” and “unusual episodes of high temperatures”, conditions that “have weighed down the excellent sowing and the good state of crop development that was present prior to the entry of the spring”.
Thus, he recalled that the month of March was warm and dry, but it was followed by an extremely dry month of April -fundamental for the development of the cereal-, with a water deficit of 80% and very warm, which negatively affected the development of the crop.
The absence of rain continued in May, with a deficit of 26% compared to a normal year, and the rains appeared in the last days of the month, in some cases in the form of storms and with hail in certain areas, while, while June was very wet, with rainfall 121% above average, but the rains were late for the winter grain, although they have benefited the spring crops.
A 52% reduction compared to the average of the last five years
“These inclement weather have caused the estimated production to reach 3.24 million tons, which represents a reduction of 52% compared to the average of the last five years (6.7 million tons) and that it is 37%. lower than that of last season, which, without being good, reached 5.2 million tons”, stressed the counselor.
He has maintained that these data show that the Community is facing the second worst harvest of this century, only surpassed by that of 2017, whose production was only 2.7 million tons.
AGREEMENT TO DECLAR THE CAMPAIGN EXCEPTIONAL DUE TO ADVERSE METEOROLOGY
In response to these exceptional conditions, Dueñas has highlighted that the Board has adopted the agreement declaring the 2022-2023 agricultural campaign in Castilla y León as exceptional, due to the effects produced by the adverse meteorological phenomena that occurred, and declaring the urgency in the adoption of support measures for the agricultural sector.
It is, he recalled, a package of measures aimed at alleviating the drop in profitability of farms, aimed therefore at improving the liquidity of farmers and ranchers and increasing the availability of water on livestock farms.
1.64 million tons of wheat and 1.34 of barley
With respect to the surface by crops, it has been advanced that, for yet another year, wheat is the most sown cereal with 762,000 hectares and an estimated production of 1.64 million tons, followed by barley, with 704,000 hectares and a production of 1.34 million tons.
59,000 hectares are dedicated to rye, 83,000 to oats and 30,000 to triticale, crops that, together, reach a production of 262,000 tons.
Likewise, he has stated that The adverse weather conditions, mainly drought, caused a drastic decrease in yields, which reached 1,980 kilograms per hectare on average, which represents a decrease of 30% compared to last season and 45%. compared to the average of the last five years.
The average yields of common wheat amount to 2,150 kilograms per hectare and those of barley to 1,900 kilograms per hectare.
Barley, for its part, presented average yields of 1,900 kilograms per hectare this season, 35% lower than last season and 48% below the average of the last five years.
With the current price data, a value of winter cereal production of about 850 million euros is estimated, which is 53% less than last season’s harvest.