For now, the Ministry of Agriculture is keeping its previous forecasts at the same level, but the situation may change, experts warn.
At the moment, the department believes that Russian farmers can harvest up to 125 million tons of grain this year.
However, unfavorable weather conditions have developed in some regions, which may lead to the forecasts being revised downwards.
For example, this applies to Crimea, as well as the Rostov and Krasnodar regions, that is, precisely those regions of the Russian Federation that make the most important contribution to the total harvest.
In some areas of these regions, a state of emergency has already been introduced due to extreme heat.
In particular, up to 25% of sunflower, corn and grain losses may be due to drought in the southern regions, experts warn.
That is, the final yield may not be 60 centners per hectare, but only 45 centners, which is a significant decrease.
At the same time, there is hope that the losses in the southern regions will be partially offset by good results in a number of other areas.
For example, there is evidence that in the Volga, Central and North Caucasian Federal Districts this year the yield of grain and other crops may be higher than in the previous year.
This also applies to some southern regions, such as Adygea and Volgograd.
However, in general, farmers are already preparing for the fact that the current year will bring large losses due to unfavorable weather conditions, experts note.
At the moment, deputies are already preparing an appeal to the Ministry of Agriculture with a request to provide assistance to agricultural producers from the southern regions of the country, which have suffered greatly from the drought.
If assistance is not provided in a timely manner, this may cause bankruptcies and closures of many businesses, since many companies are already sending appeals to deputies due to the difficult situation they have found themselves in.
Thus, given the current realities, it is unlikely that this year will be able to set new records in terms of harvest volumes, experts believe. Most likely, the volumes of grain and other crops harvested will be less than expected and lower than similar figures for previous years.
At the same time, farmers emphasize that the harvest will in any case be sufficient to meet the country’s domestic needs.
In addition, although the volume of exports will obviously be reduced, Russia should also successfully fulfill all existing obligations to supply grain abroad, analysts believe.
