Drought seen damaging sunflower seeds in Black Sea area
17:02, 9 August 2012
KIEV. August 9. KAZINFORM Dry and hot weather in July and early August will lead to a reduced sunflower harvest in the Black Sea countries, according to UkrAgroConsult.
The Kiev-based agriculture researcher lowered its harvest estimate about 10 percent to 19 million metric tons from 21 million tons forecast in June, according to an e-mailed statement. UkrAgroConsult may cut its forecast further should the heat persist.
The Black Sea countries - Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan - reaped a record sunflower seed harvest of 22.5 million tons last year, Kazinform has learnt fro Bloomberg.