"No food shortage, enough wheat for export"

A flooded field in northwestern Serbia (Tanjug, file)

"No food shortage, enough wheat for export"

BELGRADE -- Between 3 and 4 percent of arable land in Serbia was covered in water in the recent floods, but there will be enough food for the country's needs.

The wheat harvest will even yield enough for export, head of the association of grain farmers and exporters Žita Srbije Vukosav Saković told Tanjug on Friday.

All the data on the floods has not been collected yet, but the government is expected to release it early next week, he pointed out.

According to Žita Srbije, and independently of government sources, around 20,000 hectares of wheat fields were flooded, Saković stated.

The total yield will be lower than planned and is expected at 2.5 million tons, which is enough to cover Serbia's needs and leaves around a million tons for export, he noted.

"The damage is great, but not such that it can threaten our food supply," Saković remarked, stressing that there would be enough of corn, soy and sunflower as well.

Continue reading on: