In Russia, grain yield is still 25% lower than last year

As of June 26, grain and leguminous crops were threshed from 435.7 thousand ha (0.9% of the harvested area), about 1.3 million tons were harvested compared to more than 5.8 million tons by this time last year, reports “ Center for Agricultural Analysts "of the Ministry of Agriculture. The average yield is 30.5 c / ha, while a year ago by that time it was 25% higher and reached 40.6 c / ha. Including wheat harvested from 116.1 thousand hectares, 270.8 thousand tons were obtained. Last year, by that time, farmers had already threshed about 2.5 million tons of agricultural crops. The average harvest per hectare is twice as low as last year and amounts to 23.3 c / ha against 46.6 c / ha. A decrease was also recorded for barley: productivity decreased by 13.2 c / ha to 33.1 c / ha, gross harvest - by 633.6 thousand tons to 1.06 million tons.

Including in the Southern Federal District, grain and leguminous crops were threshed from 155 thousand hectares, 647.3 thousand tons of grain were collected (minus 3.42 million tons compared to last year) with a yield of 41.7 centner / ha (46 centner / ha in 2019 m). In the North Caucasus District, farmers received 681.6 thousand tons of grain with an average yield of 24.3 c / ha. A year ago, by this time more than 1.7 million tons were threshed, the harvest per hectare was 32 c.

The main reason for such dynamics is unfavorable weather conditions, especially for early sowing, the SovEkon center explains analytically. In the south of Russia - the main export region of cereals - until April inclusive, there was a significant deficit of precipitation. It rained only in May, but could not compensate for the damage previously caused to plants. In addition, crops were affected due to spring frosts. Nevertheless, in the near future SovEkon expects an increase in average yields and a decrease in the backlog from last year.

In the Stavropol Territory, which suffered more than other regions from adverse weather conditions, by June 26, 599.9 thousand tons of grain had been threshed from 248.7 thousand ha with an average yield of 24.1 c / ha, the Ministry of Agriculture of the region reports. True, already on June 29, at a meeting with the regional governor Vladimir Vladimirov, the first deputy chairman of the regional government Nikolai Velikdan said that the first million tons of grain were collected in the Stavropol Territory, 378 thousand hectares or almost 20% of the planned area were harvested.

In Crimea, which first started the harvesting campaign on June 10 this year, 42.2 thousand hectares of early grain and leguminous crops were threshed, more than 76 thousand tons were obtained with an average yield of 18 kg / ha, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic reports. According to the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers - Minister of Agriculture of Crimea Andrei Ryumshin, harvesting takes place in unpredictable and difficult conditions: in June there was a long drought, which was replaced by rainfall, holding back the pace of harvesting.

According to the forecast of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the grain harvest this year will be 122.5 million tons, including 75 million tons of wheat. The US Department of Agriculture estimates the potential for gross agricultural harvest in Russia at 77 million tons excluding Crimea. The International Grain Council last week raised its forecast for grain production in Russia to 120.4 million tons, including 79 million tons of wheat. Among Russian analysts, SovEkon has the highest forecast for gross grain and wheat harvest - 128.6 million tons and 82.7 million tons. In the near future, the center’s analysts will update the forecast, he said.