BUCHAREST (Reuters) -- Romania has reaped 4.4 million tonnes of wheat from three quarters of area planted and yields have dropped due to flooding and hail which caused a 15 percent plunge in expected output, the farm ministry said.

A ministry official handling field data told Reuters on Thursday farmers have so far harvested 1.55 million hectares at average yields of 2.8 tonnes which would likely lead to an overall wheat production of 5.8 million tonnes in 2010.

Black Sea grain producer Romania had originally expected to harvest 6.7 million tonnes of wheat compared with 5.2 million in 2009, from ...