“Five million tons is a lot. In reality I believe there are some 3.5 million tons,” said Culita Tarata, the largest grain producer in Romania, who administers some 66,000 hectares of agricultural land, adding that the quality of Romanian wheat has been poor for several years.
Culita previously announced that this year’s drought, the worst in the past ten years, will cut his business at group level by nearly 40 percent compared to the €65 mln posted in 2008.
Another major grain producer, Mihai Anghel, owner of Cerealcom Dolj, also doubts the figures announced by Sarbu. He said that subsidies are good, provided they reach producers on time.
Representatives of the National Federation of Agricultural Producers in Romania (FNPAR) also do not support the figures reported by the Ministry of Agriculture.
“We do not have a production of five million tons. This quantity was estimated in spring. Then the drought came to six counties, and there were also rains,” Viorel Matei, FNPAR’s President, said.
