Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Moldova started harvesting sunflower
Harvest of sunflower seeds has been started in Moldova. According to INFOTAG news agency, agriculture ministry officials said that bad weather conditions had resulted in low seed yields, especially in central and southern areas, where the yield does not exceed 1 tonne per hectare. In the north of the country the situation is better, however, the yields there will not reach 2 tonnes per hectare, the officials said.
According to forecasts, seed crops in the country will be about 420,000 tonnes (the sown area is 286,000 hectares). This amount will yield about 100,000 tonnes of sunflower oil, while the country's domestic demand is about 50,000 tonnes per year.
The largest producer of sunoil in the country is JSC Floarea-Soarelui in the town of Balti. In January-July of 2003 it produced 32,100 tonnes of oil, more than half of which has been exported to CIS countries.