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PARIS, Sept 13 (Reuters) – France’s farm ministry on Tuesday reduced its forecast for the country’s drought-hit maize crop by 1 million tonnes to the lowest level since 1990.
Grain maize production was now expected to reach 11.61 million tonnes, or 11.33 million excluding crop grown for seeds, which was 8% below the ministry’s initial projection in August.
“A decline in planting, linked to the surge in fertiliser and gas prices, has been coupled with a sharp drop in yields caused by drought,” the ministry said of maize in a crop report.
Maize is among the crops to have suffered most from France’s worst drought on record, which was exacerbated by successive heatwaves.
In a first forecast for 2022 sugar beet output, the ministry projected the crop at 33.33 million tonnes, down 3% from last year.
However, the expected yield would be slightly above the five-year average, suggesting that sugar beet had withstood drought better than other crops, the ministry said.
For soft wheat, France’s main cereal crop, estimated 2022 output was revised up for a second month, to 34.12 million tonnes from 33.87 million projected in August, although that would still be below last year’s volume and the five-year average.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz Editing by David Goodman, Kirsten Donovan)
((gus.trompiz@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 49 49 52 18; Reuters Messaging: gus.trompiz.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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