In the period from June 2025 to March 2026, 369 tons of seed rape were imported to the Republic of Moldova. For comparison: 258 tons of seed of this crop were imported for the 2025 harvest.
As a result, last year from about 141 thousand hectares of rapeseed crops (including Transnistria, in right-bank Moldova according to statistical data rapeseed crops amounted to about 100 thousand hectares – LP note) was harvested about 335-340 thousand tons of marketable products.
“The indicator of rape seed imports is of special importance, because in Moldova the planting material of this crop is not produced,” notes Iurie Rija, an expert in agro-marketing. – Therefore, the volume of seeds coming into the country per year for sowing winter rape becomes a reliable predictor of sowing areas and, consequently, of the future harvest. The increase in seed imports for the new crop by more than 40% is the most eloquent signal that farmers are once again placing a big bet on rapeseed”.
What does the aerial survey show?
According to the expert, the prediction of a future abundant rapeseed crop is independently confirmed by an analysis of the planted area as of June 1, 2026 by aerial photography. According to estimates, the area sown with rapeseed in the Republic of Moldova (including Transnistria – about 20 thousand hectares) is 158 thousand hectares.
Even with a cautious scenario of the situation development, taking into account the error up to 10% (losses from weeds, diseases, other sanitary and weather factors), about 140-143 thousand hectares will be “under harvesting”. That is, in the pessimistic version of the forecast, the total area of rapeseed fields this year is comparable to last year’s figure. Thus, it is expected that the 2026/2027 rapeseed season will be harvestable.
In this context, it is worth recalling that in the last marketing year, the Republic of Moldova showed the best results of exports of commodity rapeseed in history. In particular, the country became the second number in the rating of rapeseed supplier countries to the European Union (the volume of supplies of this Moldovan product – about 300 thousand tons).
At the territorial level, the distribution of rapeseed crops is strongly in favor of the south of Moldova (which is strange, since rapeseed is a moisture-loving crop). In the southern region, including Gagauzia, there are more than 70 thousand hectares of rapeseed crops – about 44% of the total area of rapeseed crops in the Republic of Moldova. In the north of the country – more than 40 thousand ha (25%), in the center – 28 thousand ha (18%) of rapeseed fields.
Based on the area estimate and average yields typical for each zone – north 2.4-2.6 t/ha, center 2.2-2.4 t/ha, south about 2.0 t/ha – the above-mentioned expert determines the rapeseed yield in the season 2026/2027 in the range from 303 thousand tons (in the pessimistic scenario) to 369 thousand tons (in the optimistic scenario). Total, the average estimate is about 335 thousand tons.
“Even the moderately optimistic forecast for the-2026 rapeseed harvest in Moldova assumes a volume of marketable rapeseed at the level of the record last season. The forecast is based on three aspects of the analysis – seed imports, planted area, average zonal yield,” Iurie Rija believes.
