Schwerin (dpa/mv) - The cultivation of sunflowers has also been greatly expanded in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as a result of the Ukraine war. But the yellow flower, whose seeds are used to make oil, is still a niche crop in agriculture in the Northeast, according to a report by the country's statistical office on Monday. According to this, sunflowers will grow on 5300 hectares this year, which is an increase of 147 percent compared to 2021. In total, however, farmers in MV cultivate 1.07 million hectares of arable land.
"You can sow sunflowers until April, when the Ukraine war was going on and there was no oil on the supermarket shelves," said the spokeswoman for the state farmers' association, Bettina Schipke. The farmers would have reacted, says Schipke. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the area under sunflower cultivation has more than doubled to 85,300 hectares nationwide. Ukraine is one of the most important sunflower oil producers in the world.
According to the state office, the area of wheat and silo maize in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania shrank this year, while that of winter rape and legumes grew. After the 2 percent reduction, wheat is still grown on 310,100 hectares, making it one of the most important crops in MV. In the case of silo maize, there was an area loss of 11 percent. According to Schipke, this is related to the cap on biogas production. The cultivation of legumes increased by 14 percent to 46,700 hectares as a result of a support program for diverse crop rotations, and that of peas by 26 percent to 25,800 hectares.
