Last year, Romania recorded a decrease in areas and yields (average production per hectare) for the main crops, and at the European Union level, the country ranked first in the area cultivated with sunflower and corn and third in production, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics, published on Monday.

Last year, crop production decreased in all crops, namely cereals for grains, oilseeds, vegetables, potatoes and legumes for grains, and the cultivated area decreased in cereals for grains, vegetables, potatoes and increased in oilseeds and legumes for grains.

Thus, the area cultivated with cereals for grains decreased by 2%, and production by 14%, mainly due to the decrease in yields per hectare.

The area cultivated with wheat in 2024 represents 44.7% of the area cultivated with grain cereals, and that cultivated with grain corn 41.8%. In wheat, Romania ranked fourth in the European Union, both in terms of cultivated area and production, after France, Germany and Poland.

According to the INS, cereal production decreased mainly due to the 31.5% reduction in corn grain production, which has a share of 33.5% in cereal production. In corn grain, Romania ranked first in terms of cultivated area and third in terms of production, after France and Poland.

In legumes for grains, production decreased by 23.2% compared to the previous year, as a result of the decrease in yield per hectare.

Oilseed production decreased by 28.2%, while the cultivated area increased by 3.4%. Decreases in production were also recorded for rapeseed (-35%), sunflower (-26%) and soybeans (-2.6%). However, for sunflower, Romania ranked first in the EU in terms of cultivated area and third in terms of production, after Hungary and France.

In potatoes, the cultivated area decreased by 2.5% and the production by 18.2%. Romania ranked sixth in cultivated area after Germany, Poland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and tenth in production after Germany, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Italy and Sweden.

In vegetables, production decreased by 10.8%, as a result of the decrease in yields per hectare, but also in cultivated areas.

In 2024, compared to the previous year, grape production decreased by 11.9%, as a result of the decrease in yield per hectare (-10.3%), but also in the cultivated area by 1.8%.

Fruit production from orchards decreased by 7.5%, due to the decrease in cultivated areas, but also in the yield per hectare.

AGERPRES