Czech farmers warned on Tuesday that they had 40% more wheat than a year ago and risked silo capacity overflowing, a day after the government in Prague said it would not follow the lead of its Visegrad group partners on Ukrainian grain, Reuters reports.
The warning came from the Czech Agricultural Association, whose comments are the latest sign of concern about the pressure Ukrainian wheat and grains are putting on local producers in Central and Eastern Europe.
The alarm raised by Czech farmers comes a day after the agriculture ministry in Prague said the Czech government would not follow the example of Poland, Hungary and Slovakia in suspending imports of wheat and other grain products from Ukraine.
“The Czech Republic currently does not plan to ban the import of Ukrainian wheat and other agricultural products from Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement.
His comments came shortly after Slovakia announced on Monday afternoon that it was temporarily suspending imports of grain and other selected products from Ukraine.
However, the Czech Agricultural Association said on Tuesday that the country’s farmers had stocks of 2.6 million tonnes of wheat, up 40% from last year, as Ukrainian wheat destined for Africa and the Middle East filled European silos.
What Czech farmers say and how the Ministry of Agriculture in Prague responds
Czech farmers also warn that the lack of storage space is putting the country’s own agricultural production at risk.
“The agrarian association asks the Ministry of Agriculture and the European Commission to quickly activate the initial corridors and export Ukrainian wheat to where it was supposed to go,” says the press release.
The agriculture ministry told Reuters in an email that while Ukrainian wheat exports to the Czech Republic are growing rapidly, they were less than 4,000 tonnes last year, a fraction of the Czech Republic’s 4.8 million tonnes of production.
The Czech Farmers’ Association says most silos in the country are filled with local wheat that has not been exported to other European markets.
“The problem is in silos across Europe. Previously, Czech wheat was exported there, but now it has been replaced by Ukrainian wheat,” she added.
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Source: Hot News
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