Harvest forecast - July 2008

Based on this year’s second forecast made on 15 July 2008, the CZSO is expecting the production of 6 821 thousand tonnes of main cereals. This figure is 58 thousand tonnes (0.8%) below the forecast of June. In comparison to last season’s harvest, it is up by 446 thousand tonnes (+7.0%). The production forecast for rape decreased by 3.6% against the June forecast to 1 071 thousand tonnes and is up by 3.8% compared to last season’s harvest.
The forecasted production of 6 821 thousand tonnes of main cereals is by 446 thousand tonnes (+7.0%) higher than last season’s harvest. The area under main cereals decreased by 21 thousand ha (-1.5%) in comparison to 2007 to 1 434 924 ha and the expected yield is 4.75 t/ha, i.e. up by 0.37 t/ha (+8.4%).

Production of 4 100 thousand tonnes of wheat in total is expected; winter wheat, the most spread cereal in the Czech Republic, should reach 3 937 thousand tonnes (+4.7% on last season’s harvest). The production of barley in total should be by 12.0% higher than in 2007. Spring barley, the second most spread cereal, should produce 1 475 thousand tonnes (+16.1% on last season). A fall (-8.0% on last season) is expected for a single crop, namely spring wheat, due to a decrease of 31.1% in the sown area. The production of 163 thousand tonnes of spring wheat is expected.

The production forecast for rape 1 071 thousand tonnes is 3.8% above last season. Higher rape production is due to a 5.7% increase in the sown area, the average yield is expected lower (3.00 t/ha as against 3.06 t/ha in last season).

The expected poppy production should reach 50 thousand tonnes (+51.5% on last season). The increase results from an expected higher yield (+24.1% to 0.72 t/ha) and from an increase in the sown area (+22.6% to 69 793 ha).

More detailed information – broken down by region – including yield and production forecast for early potatoes, common pea, selected fruits and vegetables, is available in the related publication Harvest Forecast – July 2008.

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Notes
Contact: Jiří Hrbek, tel. (+420) 274 052 331, e-mail: jiri.hrbek@csu.gov.cz
Data source: CZSO sample survey in farming businesses
End of data collection: 15 July 2008
End of data processing: 6 August 2008
Related tables: Harvest forecast – July 2008 (more detailed information concerning yield and production forecast for selected fruits and early potatoes - also at /produkty/harvest-forecast-july-8gojhl9sux )
Update procedure: The next harvest forecast for selected crops as at 15 August 2008 will be released by the Czech Statistical Office on 8 September 2008.