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EU Sees 2005 Cereals Crop Down 10.5 Pct on Drought |
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| BELGIUM: July 11, 2005 | ||
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BRUSSELS - Cereals output in the European Union is likely to fall by 10.5 percent in 2005 to 259.3 million tonnes after poor weather, mainly drought, slashed yields in many countries, the EU's statistics agency said on Friday.
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"Yields will be heavily affected by the poor weather conditions observed in some parts of the EU, thus leading to a sharp fall in production in comparison to the, admittedly exceptional, year 2004," Eurostat said in a report. "Part of this fall in production can also be attributed to unfavourable weather conditions, for example drought in the Mediterranean region, triggering a drop in yield," it said. All the EU's major cereals producers would see sharply lower crops this year, the Eurostat report said. France, the EU's cereals powerhouse, would produce 66 million tonnes of grain, 6.3 percent down on its 2004 harvest. Germany's harvest would fall by 7 percent to 47.5 million tonnes, while sharply lower crops were forecast for Italy and Spain -- down by 15.8 and 31.2 percent respectively. Spain, has suffered its worst drought this year since the 1940s. Wheat production would decline by 6.7 percent to 116.7 million tonnes despite a small increase in sown area, while this year's barley crop was forecast to drop to 53.4 million tonnes, down by a hefty 13.3 percent from 2004, it said. Spain was forecast to see the steepest fall in barley production -- down by a huge 40 percent to 6.4 million tonnes.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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