MOSCOW (Reuters) — Russia’s winter grains are in a worse condition than last year after a dry autumn, the head of Russian weather forecaster Hydrometcentre said on Wednesday, adding to risks for this year’s harvest.
The grain crop in Russia, expected to be the world’s fourth-largest wheat exporter this year, depends heavily on weather patterns. Turkey, Egypt and Iran are the key importers of its wheat.
“Autumn in the European part of Russia was very dry,” Interfax news agency reported, citing Roman Vilfand. “One had to wait for precipitation for a very long time, but winter grains vegetated very badly anyway.”
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However, there are some signs that part of the damage could be reversed in Russia’s key grain-exporting regions such as Krasnodar, Stavropol and Rostov, he said.
“Very warm weather in the grain regions of Russia’s south… led to quite active vegetation in December,” Vilfand said.
Vilfand expected weather to be colder than usual in the European part of the country in February, but March is forecast to be warmer than in recent years.
Last year, Russia had the second-largest grain harvest in its post-Soviet history of 105 million tonnes.
