The analytical center Sovecon notes that this time in Russia there is a delay in harvesting wheat, largely due to bad weather.
According to Sovecon, as of July 20, about 14% of wheat had been harvested across the country as a whole. This is significantly less than on the same date last year (22%).
This is mainly due to the fact that in a number of regions of Russia it is now raining. In places, in just 2 weeks, as much as 150% of the monthly rainfall fell, which makes cleaning impossible, as a result, it has to be postponed.
And the problem is not only in the delay, but also in the fact that the rains cause lodging of crops. Thus, the volume of the harvest may be less than it would be in the absence of rain, experts say.
At the same time, Sovecon maintains an optimistic harvest forecast for this year. According to him, the Russian Federation can harvest up to 87 million tons of wheat.
On the one hand, this is significantly less than last year, on the other hand, last year was a record year in all respects, and it will not be easy to repeat its results in any case.
“To repeat records twice is a very difficult procedure. Moreover, we also need to stabilize the market a little and increase profitability,” said Roman Nekrasov, director of the crop production department of the Ministry of Agriculture.
At the same time, so far everything is developing according to the scenario of 2016, experts say: then, too, the harvesting started late, but in the end, 99% of the sown area was harvested.
Therefore, there are no particular reasons for pessimism yet: we need to see how the situation will develop further.
According to forecasts, hot and dry weather will soon be established in the south of Russia, that is, just the kind that is conducive to harvesting.
At the same time, in some regions, for example, in Rostov, in general, the cleaning is on schedule.
Rostov farmers have already harvested 48% of the crop, and the rains that often fall this July have not been able to slow down the process too much.
But in Mordovia, for example, they are just starting to harvest: so far only 10,000 tons of grain have been threshed, while the total harvest is expected to be about 900,000 tons.
In the Khabarovsk Territory, 256 thousand tons of 3.8 tons were collected.
In general, most likely, this season in the south of the country, the yield will be lower than last year, but in the Chernozem region it will be higher, says Vladimir Petrichenko, general director of the ProZerno analytical company.
The Ministry of Agriculture believes that Russia this season will be able to harvest approximately 123 million tons of grain, of which 78 million tons will be wheat.
