Ljubljana - Slovenian farmers have produced slightly lower quantities of cereals this year than last year, with late potato and corn crops also expected to be lower, the Statistics Office says.

The crops of cereals used for bread - wheat, spelt, rye and sorghum - decreased by 2% to just over 154,000 tonnes, of which 150,000 tonnes were wheat, on a par with 2021.

Cereals used for fodder - barley, oats and triticale - was 6% lower at just under 140,700 tonnes, with barley accounting for the largest share, at 112,520 tonnes.

Early potatoes were planted on a slightly larger area than last year, and the total yield of 3,700 tonnes was by nearly 3% higher.

Late potatoes were also planted on a larger area, but the yield is expected to be by 7% lower at with around 58,500 tonnes.

On the other hand, farmers can be happy with industrial oil crops, including rapeseed, soya beans and sunflowers, which are higher than last year.

Rapeseed alone increased by 9% to 7,500 tonnes, and almost 6,500 tonnes of soya beans are expected to be harvested, while sunflowers have performed worse than last year.

According to the 31 July data on expected yields, maize growers will harvest 23% less maize grain this year, mainly due to the severe drought this summer.

The average maize yield is expected to be by 25% below last year's. Silage maize is also forecast to be by almost a third lower.

First data shows that just over 176,000 hectares of arable land was cultivated in Slovenia this year, almost 1% more than in the previous year.

Half of the land was planted with cereal grains, for example wheat was grown on almost 27,000 hectares.