Farmers' granaries remain full of subsidized wheat

2024-04-14 17:23:00, Aktualitet CNA

Met Salliu, one of the oldest grain growers in the village of Plug in the area of ??Myzeqe, since July still has unsold 500 tons of wheat produced this year. The selling price of wheat, according to him, has reached 20 ALL per kg and remains worthless.

Mr. Salliu, encouraged by the increase in the selling price of wheat, which reached 50 Lek per kg in July 2022 (after the crisis caused by Russia's attacks on Ukraine) and direct subsidies worth 30 thousand Lek per ha distributed by national agriculture scheme, cultivated 100 ha of wheat land, or 50% more than the previous season.

Subsidized wheat, produced in surplus years, is entering the second season of the selling crisis. Farmers claim that they still have a large amount of wheat and corn in stock, in warehouses or at home. To get wheat out of storage, some producers are trading it in for soil-fertilizing products priced below production cost.

Others are selling it at no profit. Grain growers across the country raised concerns about the lack of a wheat market as early as July last year, after the harvest and threshing season ended.

For 9 months, it turns out that their problem has not found a solution.

Even for this year, according to the farmers, the main problem remains the price drop, which is causing deep losses for them. In the domestic market, the selling price of wheat ranges from 20 to 25 ALL per kg or 50-60% lower than the selling price after the war in Ukraine.

Farmers claim that the price continues to remain below the cost of production. In order to deduct expenses, the production must be sold at least 40 ALL per kg.

Brikel Plasa, one of the largest growers of cereals and potatoes in the village of Pojan in Korça, claims that last year he cultivated 30 ha with this wheat, encouraged by subsidies and the favorable price of wheat. He says that only a few days ago he managed to sell 5 thousand tons of wheat that he had kept in stock for two years.

Mr. Plasa claims that he was forced to sell the wheat without a profit, since otherwise the amount produced would create flies and would not even be used for animal feed.

"We increased wheat production, driven by subsidies and price increases. We believed the calls to increase production because it is beneficial, but we came out with a loss. These days I sold 5,000 tons of the previous year's production at 25 ALL/kg to a flour and bread production plant in the Korça area.

I sold it to an acquaintance of mine, otherwise the wheat would be eaten by flies. Other farmers are exchanging wheat at a price of 20 lek per kg for soil fertilization products. With the high cost of wheat production, the selling price is not worth it.

At this price, every farmer makes a loss. For this reason, everyone has reduced crops."

The wheat crop is one of the grains that is most widely planted in the country by farmers. According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture, last year, stimulated by direct subsidies, 2,500 ha of surface area planted with wheat were added. Total crops reached 57,500 ha.

With direct subsidies, 4 thousand farmers were supported with a fund of 5 million USD. Compared to 2022, the area of ??land with crops increased by about 5%. According to agronomists, before the 90s, the area of ??land planted with wheat reached up to 200 thousand ha.

Compared to 1998, the earliest period reported by INSTAT, wheat crops have decreased by 45%.

Farmers' granaries remain full of subsidized wheat

In Korça, wheat is being sold as animal feed

According to experts, wheat is not a crop with a competitive advantage as it is conditioned by economies of scale. Wheat is widely used by local farmers for direct processing of flour for bread, i.e. for self-consumption, while its use as feed for livestock or industry is secondary.

Some farmers in Korça, according to agronomist Telha, are also selling the wheat for animal feed.

Vasfi Sherifi, representative from AGROVAS-SHE, said that the amount of wheat sold as animal feed is small, since this grain is not widely used in livestock.

Barley is mostly used. For this reason, according to him, some farmers in the Korça area have started to increase barley crops for use in livestock. The area of ??land planted with barley was 5,597 ha at the national level, according to INSTAT data. Compared to 2021, the areas planted with barley increased by 10%.

Farmers' granaries remain full of subsidized wheat

Wheat crops are reduced by 30 to 70% due to lack of sales

After the granting of direct subsidies and the increase in the price of wheat, in the fields of Korca and Myzeqe, the area of ??plots with crops increased by 40 to 50%.

Already, the lack of a market for the sale of grains has affected the reduction of wheat crops from 30 to 70%, according to the estimates of farmers and agronomists.

"This year I reduced the wheat and corn crops by 50% and increased the potato crops. For potato trading, we predict an increase in demand in the local market from tourism. But even for this crop, we are encountering sales difficulties, as there is a high amount of imports from Egypt, Serbia and Germany.

But the farmers are forced to work the land, they cannot leave it fallow, as part of it has been leased.

But as for cereal crops, including wheat and corn, and for potatoes, which is the main crop we cultivate, the main problem remains the low price, which is demanded by wholesalers", says farmer Brikel Plasa, from the village of Pojan.

Even the barns of the farmers of the Myzeqe field continue to be full of wheat. Due to the selling price below the cost of production, even Met Salliu, the grain grower in the village of Plug, said that this year he planted 30 ha of wheat, or 70% less than the previous area.

Agronomist Nevion Telha adds that in the plain area of ??Korça, where cereals are mainly planted, wheat crops have been reduced by 30 to 40%. The main reason, according to him, is the selling price of wheat below the cost, affecting the increase of stock goods.

"This year, wheat crops have decreased by at least 40% in the area of ??the Korca field. Most farmers have stock wheat at home, unsold. The price of wheat below 40 ALL per kg is below the cost of production.

The farmer makes a loss if he sells it at this price. He can't even get back the expenses for the seed, fertilizing, tilling the land with a tractor, the payments of the harvest and threshing workers", he asserts.

Falling wheat prices are causing losses to the entire market value chain. Vasfi Sherifi, head of the AGROVAS-SHE company, but also a wheat grower who then sells it for sowing to farmers, says that of the 100 ha of wheat planted in 2022 for the previous year, he planted 50 ha less.

"All farmers have stocks of wheat, still unsold. The asking price is completely below the cost of production. For this reason, we also reduced the sowing of seeds by 50%", he underlines.

Farmers' granaries remain full of subsidized wheat

Farmers reduce services for wheat fields, a drop in production yield is expected

With less land planted to wheat, agronomists expect lower yields this year.

Vasfi Sherifi, of the company AGROVAS-SHE, which, in addition to trading seeds for planting, also offers products for fertilizing agricultural lands, has found that farmers in this period have reduced services to fields planted with wheat.

Although the production yield will be determined in June, it is predicted that the quantity this year will be decreasing.

"The month of March is the season of fertilizing the land planted with wheat, but from the farmers of the Korca area, the services to this crop this year are few. The decline has come from the demoralization of not selling wheat, but also from the lack of knowledge", he assessed.

According to INSTAT data, the yield of wheat production for 2022 reached 43 kv per ha. Compared to 2021, the production yield has increased by about 5%.

For agronomists, the highest production yield for wheat in the amount of 70 kv per ha was achieved in the communist period. The maximum achieved by some farmers, according to them, in the current years is 50 to 60 kv per ha./ Monitor.al

Farmers' granaries remain full of subsidized wheat