EU cuts Italy summer crop yield estimates, blames heavy rain

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 18 - Maize, sunflowers, and soybeans: the European Union has revised downward its yield forecasts for the main summer crops, mainly due to a deterioration in the outlook for summer crops in Italy, as well as in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Croatia, according to the October crop monitoring bulletin published by the European Commission.
    The bulletin says that heavy rainfall has had a negative impact on the maturation and harvesting of summer crops, as well as on the sowing of winter cereals for the new season.
    "Excessively wet" conditions have negatively affected summer crops, particularly maize and soybeans, in northern and central Italy, reducing the previously positive yield expectations at the national level. Looking at Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Croatia, the heavy rains at the end of the season, since mid-September, have contributed to a worsening of yield prospects, which were already low due to earlier extremely hot and dry conditions.
    Brussels also raised concerns about the impact of the heavy rains on cereal quality and the winter cereal sowing campaign.
    #IMCAP Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
    (ANSA).