In total, the country exported just over 30,000 tons of sorghum over the period 2022/24. This is more than the total exports over the last five years of such a traditional crop for Moldova as peas. In other words, sorghum in the structure of agriculture in Moldova is gradually outgrowing the narrow format of a niche, “foreign crop”. This is evidenced by the data of a study conducted by Iurie Rizaia, Chairman of the Association of Exporters and Importers of Agricultural Products Agrocereale.
External supplies of sorghum from the Republic of Moldova have a rather distinct seasonal character: the peaks of export sales occur in the winter months, early summer and late fall. In fact, they coincide with the peaks of export sales of another important forage crop – grain corn. In the global agri-food market, sorghum is largely considered an alternative to maize, cheaper but, in principle, no less valuable. In particular, the export (invoice) price for Moldovan sorghum in the last three years fluctuated within 2.8-5.2 lei/kg, in 2025 – 3.5-4 lei/kg. That is, sorghum is always 15-20% cheaper on average than maize.
However, unlike maize, sorghum is a much more drought-tolerant crop and the risk of a 100 percent crop loss is much lower. This is critical given that this summer is expected to be one of the three hottest summers in the history of weather observations.
Read more in Friday’s edition of LP Weekly.
