In a short speech, Jean Louis Lamau gave an overview of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, whose total population is less than 7 million people and whose pulse production is mainly peas and fava beans. He indicated that volumes are generally low and are mainly intended for export since domestic consumption is low both for human and feed. The peas go to Western Europe while the fava beans go to Spain and Italy as well as Egypt.
The 2021 crop was a disaster with yields and production about 50% less across the same acreage as 2020 for both peas and fava beans across the region. This was due to the weather being too dry and severely affected quality. Lamau mentioned that increasingly strict EU pesticide regulations are currently having an effect on quality across the continent and predicted a reduction on fava bean exports as a result. He concluded that despite this, pulses still remain an attractive crop for farmers in the Baltics due to their nitrogen-fixing qualities reducing the need for fertilisers.
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