Bumper grain harvest predicted for Russia

Russia is expected to reap its largest grain harvest ever this year, according to the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR).

“The forecast for wheat crop has been increased from 88.7 million to 90.5 million tons, the estimate of gross grain harvest – from 133.5 million to 138.5 million tons,” IKAR CEO Dmitry Rylko told Interfax on Thursday.

According to Rylko, Russia’s export potential for the current agricultural year (July 2022 to June 2023) will also grow – for wheat, from 42 million to 44 million tons; for overall grain production, from 52 million to 56.1 million tons.

The forecast echoes an earlier statement of President Vladimir Putin, who said the wheat harvest could be the biggest “in the entire history of Russia.” At the time, citing preliminary data, Putin said the results could allow Russia “not only to meet domestic needs with a margin, but also to increase supplies to the global market for our partners, which is very important for the world food markets.”

Russia’s biggest grain harvest ever was recorded in 2017 – 135.5 million tons, including 86 million tons of wheat.

In 2020, the figure was 133.5 million tons of grain (including 85.9 million tons of wheat). Last year, the harvest was 121.4 million tons (with 76 million tons of wheat).

Russia is projected to retain its leadership in the world’s wheat market in the coming years.

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