Fears for the harvest of Russian grain in 2021 already exist today - expert

In 2020, Russia will harvest the second largest grain harvest on record, but dry weather is already raising concerns about the prospects for next year's harvest. This was announced by the President of the Russian Grain Union Arkady Zlochevsky during a press conference on September 30, Reuters reported.

“The grain harvest in Russia in 2020, according to our estimates, will amount to 132-133 million tons in net weight, the wheat harvest - 82 million tons,” said the head of the RZS.

He predicts grain exports in the 2020/21 season at the level of 50 million tons, including wheat - about 38 million tons.

Assessing the prospects for the harvest in 2021, A. Zlochevsky noted that today they are already causing some concern, since "dry soils in many regions, especially in the south of the country, may interfere with the implementation of sowing plans."  

“This can lead to quite large crop losses, and we must be prepared for this risk,” the expert said, while admitting that grain reserves of the 2020 harvest would mitigate the situation.