RAPESEED AREA TO SLUMP 30-35% AFTER DROUGHT

摘要

The rapeseed area for the 2019/20 harvest is expected to drop by 30-35% from this year to 1.0-1.1 mln ha, because of drought, the head of oilseed growers group FOP, Arnaud Rousseau, told Reuters. This is far below estimates from the Terres Univia growers' technical centre, which had previously forecast that the area would drop to 1.5 mln ha. The sharp drop reflected abandoned sowing, early loss of crops that failed to emerge properly and the expected loss of crops next spring as farmers dig up poorly developed plots, he said.