Rapeseed cultivation in Russia is expected to expand

As the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia reports, there are good opportunities for growing rapeseed in the country.

“10 years ago, the gross harvest of rapeseed didn’t exceed 0.5 million tons. Five years ago, a harvest of 1.2 million tons of rapeseed was considered a record. Last year, we were about to achieve 3 million tons in terms of gross harvest. Such growth indicates a very good margin and market prospects,” said Roman Nekrasov, Director of the Department of Horticulture, Mechanisation, Chemicals-Use, and Plant Protection of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia.

According to his statement, the first place in Russia in terms of rapeseed cultivation is occupied by the Krasnoyarsk region, and it’s followed by the Bryansk region. In total, in 2020, 2.2 million hectares of land were sown with rapeseed, of which 500 thousand hectares were winter crops.

Nevertheless, much more rapeseed can be grown in our country due to its geographical conditions and the specifics of the cultivation of this crop, which can be a worthy alternative to soybeans. Rapeseed can also bring unused lands into crop rotation.

“Therefore, 2.2 million hectares of sowing is a quite modest result,” said Roman Nekrasov.