Russia may expand wheat production

This year, Russia can increase its wheat yield by 3-5% compared to 2019, said First Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Russia Dzhambulat Khatuov. Last year, the total production volume of wheat amounted to 74.3 million tons.

“With the current pace, at which we have grown by 7 million tons in grain production on the whole compared to 2018, the farmers have the intention to keep the momentum,” he said. – In my understanding, wheat will also grow among other crops. Numerically, we had a 3% increase in wheat production last year, we believe that the pace from 3% to 5% will be maintained.”

According to a preliminary forecast of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, this year, the grain yield will amount to 125.3 million tons on a nationwide scale. Last year it was 120.7 million tons.

At the same time, Dzhambulat Khatuov noted that “February is not the best month for the forecast”.

“We are waiting for winter crops to come out following overwintering, we are getting ready to fine-tune our spring planting dates, and from there we will declare responsibly,” he said.

According to Mr Khatuov, the successful crop production includes the following core elements: varietal improvement, introduction of organic and mineral fertilizers, and equipment modernization.