Sugar beet crops to be reduced in Russia

Dzhambulat Khatuov, First Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Russia, held a meeting on optimizing sugar beet areas and the current situation in the sugar market. The meeting was attended by Deputy Ministers of Agriculture of Russia Maxim Uvaidov and Oksana Lut, as well as by representatives of industry unions.

Dzhambulat Khatuov said that the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia has decided to reduce areas sown to beets in 2020. In addition, the department plans to set additional quotas for the use of domestic seeds of this crop.

The decrease in beet-growing areas in 2020 will amount to 15% of total production. The greatest decline is expected in Voronezh and Tambov regions, as well as in Bashkortostan.

The First Deputy Minister emphasized that between 2014 and 2018, sugar beet production was 43.6 million tons, and by 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia expects the crop will amount to 47.2 million tons.

This year, beets were sown on 1.145 million hectares in farms of all categories, which is 1.6% more than in 2018.

Further to the meeting it was resolved to develop additional management decisions with a view to achieving target rates.

The dose of nitrogen fertilizers for sugar beets can be 60-160 kg per 1 ha; that of phosphorous fertilizers, – 70-180 kg; and of potassium fertilizers, – 80-200 kg, depending on the type of soil.