MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) – Russia expects its grain crop to recover to up to 87 million tonnes this year.
The country has suffered a severe drought unrivalled in more than a century.
“Winter grains have survived on 14 million hectares (35 million acres), winter kill losses were 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres). With yields of three tonnes per hectare (1.2 tonnes per acre), we will have 42 million tonnes (harvest),” said deputy agriculture minister Sergei Korolyov.
“We will have to sow 30 million hectares (74 million acres) with spring grains compared to 28 million hectares (69 million acres) last year, and with average yields of 1.5 tonnes per hectare (600 kilograms per acre), we will have 45 million tonnes of spring grains. So … we will harvest 85 to 87 million tonnes of grain under favourable conditions.”
Read Also
Genetic resistance for anthracnose is on the way
anthracnose resistant lentil varieites are on the way according to Ana Vargas, University of Saskatchewan lentil and chickpea breeder. She also shared some management methods for the anthracnose in lentils.
The total area sown for the 2009 crop was 117.6 million acres.
The drought slashed Russia’s grain crop to 60.9 million tonnes in 2010 from 97 million in 2009 and 108 million in 2008.
Faced with soaring prices, the country banned grain exports from Aug. 15, 2010, to July 1, 2011. Only flour exports were allowed as of January 2011.
The Russian Grain Union believes Russia may export 15 million tonnes of grain if it is able to harvest 80 million tonnes in 2011.
The government will distribute an additional two million tonnes of grain to drought-hit regions at a low fixed price starting in February, said first deputy prime minister Viktor Zubkov.
The government has also started allocating grain from its intervention stocks at low prices.
“The government will sell grain to needy regions without tenders, up to two million tonnes,” Zubkov said.
That will be on top of the 1.1 million tonnes already allocated to Moscow and St Petersburg and the surrounding regions and the 200,000 tonnes pledged to other regions, he said.
The government plans to start selling grain via tenders this month.
Zubkov confirmed that up to 500,000 tonnes of cereals per month could be sold through such tenders: 400,000 tonnes of food grain and 100,000 of feed grain.
The starting price would be $201 US per tonne and sales would last through June, Zubkov said.
