IKAR in Mass and Industry Media

Russia's Winter Grains Harvest May Be 35 Million Tons, Ikar Says

Bloomberg

April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Russia's winter grains harvest this year may be between 33 million and 35 million metric tons due to sufficient snow, good crop conditions and sufficient moisture in the soil, according to the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies, or Ikar.

In the south, only 3 percent of winter plantings may be ruined, less than an earlier forecast of between 4 and 5 percent, Ikar analyst Oleg Sukhanov said today by phone. In central Russia, winter-crop loss may be 7 percent, down from an earlier forecast of 9 to 10 percent, he said.

A "difficult" situation persists in the Volga area, where as much as 25 percent of the country's winter grains are traditionally harvested, because "autumn sowing was bad and winter weather conditions worsened the shape of crops," Sukhanov said. "Harsh temperature fluctuations led to an ice crust in the fields there in the winter."

Up to 30 percent of winter crops may be lost in the Volga area, compared with an average 15 percent, and the harvest may be 8.5 million tons there, he said. Ikar has forecast Russia's total grain harvest at between 80 and 88 million tons in 2011. The total harvest was 60.9 million tons in 2010 after the country's worst drought in a half century damaged crops.

10.05.11

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