SOFIA - Bulgaria said it is on track to harvest more than 5.0 million tonnes of wheat this year, up from 4.6 million tonnes in 2015, after farmers increased the area they planted by 12 percent.
"Some 87 percent of planted areas are in very good shape," Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Desislava Taneva told reporters, on Saturday, adding she expects an increase in output of other cereals too.
Bulgaria's 2016 wheat crop will fully meet domestic needs and the Balkan country will be able to export around 65 percent of it.
Favourable weather in the Black Sea region has also helped grain sowings in the European Union state, although the average yields for barley are only expected to match last year's crop.
Warm and wet spring weather in leading Black Sea grain producers Russia and Ukraine has paved the way for a large wheat harvest this year, analysts and traders said.
