Rosstat notes that this year the volume of agricultural production by agricultural enterprises has significantly decreased.
In January-September 2024, agricultural production in Russia fell by 2.3%, according to Rosstat.
According to its information, the sharpest decline occurred in August, amounting to almost 15%. Despite a slight increase in September of about 0.2%, the total decline by the end of the year could be about 2%, experts believe.
The Institute for Agricultural Market Studies attributes this to a decline in production for almost all types of major crops, including grain oilseeds and sugar beets.
In other industries, where growth has been maintained, it has slowed down compared to previous periods. Such industries include, for example, dairy farming and pig farming.
As for the grain harvest, as of October 1, 111.4 million tons were harvested. This is almost 12% less than on the same date last year.
The sugar beet harvest volume has decreased by 2%.
There is positive data on sunflower: its yield has increased by 23.4%. However, experts note that such a large sunflower harvest may be a consequence of the mass death of grain due to May frosts and the fact that they had to be resown with this crop.
By the way, for the same reason this year there is a later harvesting campaign, and as of October 1, over 10% of all areas under grain were still not harvested.
“Our grain crop yield has decreased, and this is the main position that ensures the overall growth of agricultural production.
The increase in milk production is very sluggish, stagnation in pig farming is approaching. That is, everything is natural,” notes independent expert of the agricultural market Alexander Korbut.
According to him, the reason for the sharp decline in 2024 can also be considered the high base of last year, when a record or close to record harvest was collected for many types of products.
At the same time, experts believe that the remaining 2 months of this year are unlikely to significantly change the situation, and by the end of 2024, agricultural production in Russia will definitely decrease compared to 2023.
One of the main reasons for this can be considered unfavorable weather conditions: in addition to the already mentioned May frosts, in many regions of the country, farmers had to face drought and other weather phenomena during this season, which complicated the vegetation of plants or the sowing and harvesting campaigns.
