Poland’s grain harvest is on track to hit a record this year, says the state statistics agency, meaning that the country would remain the third largest producer of cereals in the European Union.
Despite heatwaves which hit Poland in the summer, triggering fears of drought, grain production could reach an unprecedented level of close to 36 million tonnes, 4% up on last year, according to the latest estimate by Statistics Poland (GUS).
The wheat harvest is particularly high, with the yield expected to be close to 13.5 million tonnes, an increase of 11% from last year, said Marcin Wroński, deputy general director of the National Agricultural Support Centre (KOWR), cited by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
Strong yields were helped by substantial rainfall at the end of May, progress in agricultural technology, a trend towards using high-quality seeds, and the introduction of more fertile and hardy varieties, explained Wroński.
“Such high yields allow Poland to maintain the position of the third largest producer of cereals in the EU,” he added. The latest Eurostat data, for 2020, show that France produced 57.5 million tonnes of cereals, Germany 43.3 million tonnes, followed by Poland with 35.5 million tonnes and Spain with 26.3 million tonnes.
Last year, the Polish government announced a new programme to help farmers by lowering their taxes, creating free marketplaces for them, and extending subsidies.
However, regular protests by farmers have continued this year. In February, thousands gathered in Warsaw under the slogan “Decent pay for hard work”, calling on the government to do more to protect them from soaring inflation.
Amid Russia’s war in Ukraine – which has reduced exports from two of the world’s biggest agricultural producers – Poland has, like other countries, emphasised the importance of food supplies as a security issue.
Its president, Andrzej Duda, and government have sought to facilitate exports from Ukraine over the land border with Poland and to end Russia’s blockade of grain shipments by sea.
Addressing the UN General Assembly in September, Duda warned that Russia has been “deliberately and cynically destroying crops and agricultural machinery” in Ukraine, using food as an “economic weapon targeting in particular Africa and the Middle East”, where people are at risk of chronic hunger.
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Peter Kononczuk is senior editor at Notes from Poland. He was previously a journalist for Agence France-Presse (AFP) in London and Warsaw.
