EU Commission forecasts higher sunflower yields from same total production area

According to the EU Commission’s forecast, the EU sunflower area for harvest in 2021 amounts to around 4.4 million hectares (nearly 10.9 million acres).

In terms of area, Romania continues to be the top producer in the EU-27 with around 1.23 million hectares (2020: 1.22 million hectares). Hungary has expanded its sunflower area 6.3 percent to presumably 643,000 hectares compared to 2020. The expansion in sunflower area in Spain is expected to be even larger at 8.1 percent year-on-year. In Germany, the increase in area is seen at 3.6 percent to 29,000 hectares.

The EU Commission’s statistics, as analyzed by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (mbH), show that the declines in area in France (down 14.4 percent) and Italy (down 6.5 percent) are offset by the expansions in the other sunflower-producing countries. Consequently, the total production area remains unchanged.

In its outlook for 2021, the EU Commission has forecast yields at an overall average of 2.39 metric tons per hectare. This translates to a 20.2 percent rise year-on-year.

In the past year, excessive rainfall in Bulgaria and Romania in particular reduced the overall yield. German farmers are estimated to harvest 2.1 tons per hectare in 2021 (2020: 2.21 tons per hectare). The highest per-hectare yields are expected to be reached in Hungary. At presumably 3.18 tons per hectare, Hungarian yields could exceed the previous year’s level by more than 15 percent.