Russia gets closer to new wheat harvest record thanks to surging grain yields

Russia has boosted grain yields by around six percent year-on-year, harvesting 124 million tons of grain, according to the latest data from the Russian Ministry of Agriculture.

With harvest season nearing an end, Russian farmers have cultivated over 90 percent or more than 43 million hectares of the planted land as of October 2, the ministry said. Crop yield stood at 28.6 centner per hectare, compared to 26.9 centner per hectare over the same period last year.

The harvest of one of Russia's key grains, wheat, rose to 85.9 million tons, already exceeding last year's results. While this can be already considered the second-largest wheat harvest for the country, it is moving closer to the 2017 record, when 86 million tons of wheat were collected in Russia. 

The latest figures beat earlier analysts and authorities' expectations. Last week, the Russian Ministry of Agriculture said that it expected this year's grain harvest to stand at 122.5 million tons. This would be one of the country's largest harvests, second only to the record 135.5 million tons recorded in 2017. 

Supported by a massive grain harvest, Russia is projected to retain its leadership in the global wheat market in the coming years. Pakistan is set to become another large importer of Russian wheat this year, as the country's government announced on Friday that it will ship 180,000 million tonnes of it “waiving off all taxes, duties.” Pakistan joins other countries which boosted wheat purchases from Russia in recent years, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Brazil, Vietnam and Tanzania among others.

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