VIENNA, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Austrian pumpkin farmers who like to tout the popular pumpkin seed oil for its health benefits are expecting increasing costs for their oil following a poor season that resulted in only 50 percent of usual yield due to bad weather.
Farmers in the central state of Styria which is known for its pumpkins will be particularly hard hit. The total seed yield there was 2.4 million kg lower than usual, with some farmers even having a total write-off of their crop. The cost of the seed oil is thus expected to rise by up to 15 percent.
The seed oil would be in scarce supply in the coming year, Kurier newspaper quoted spokesperson for oil millers from the Styrian Chamber of Commerce Paul Kiendler as saying on Tuesday, adding that with the seed harvest in Europe as a whole being relatively poor, it is not even possible to purchase it from other markets.
Despite a 27-percent increase in the field area on which the pumpkins are grown the short supply will lead to a difficult 2015. Kiendler said as regular customers have to be served first, foreign markets will be affected.
The poor weather as reported by the Chamber of Agriculture was marked by wet and cold conditions in the spring, heavy rainfall in summer, and additional poor weather during harvest.
