January 24, 2008

Russia harvests 4 million tonnes of corn on increased acreage

Russia harvested 4 million tonnes corn in 2007, the largest in 18 years, with the country's total grain production reaching 81.8 million tonnes.

The Ministry of Agriculture, reported that this year's remarkable grain output is up 3.2 million tonnes over 2006. The 2007 volume is record high for the last 5 years.

The State Statistics Committee of Russia, said that the sowing areas under crops totaled 76.3 million hectares in 2007.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the yield of grain was able to meet the country's requirements in milling and fodder grain and also allows export of around 12 million tonnes of grain.

The gross grain yield totaled 49.4 million tonnes, up 4.4 tonnes as compared to 2006.

Corn production in particular was greatly improved by the increased corn acreage, the agriculture ministry said.