March 27, 2013

Russia may see 141 million tonnes of grain output by 2030

Russia's grain production may rise to 127-141 million tonnes by 2030.

Approved by Dmitry Medvedev, the Prime Minister of Russia, on March 25, the index is provided in the long-term forecast of socio-economic development of the country for the period leading to 2030.

According to the index, the growth will be achieved by expanding planted areas under grain crops to 46.7 million hectares and increasing the average yield to 2.88 tonnes per hectare, from 2.14 tonnes per hectare in 2008-2011.

Introduction of modern agricultural technologies, including the usage of new machinery, investments in the selection of high-yielding crop varieties, rising volumes of applied mineral fertilisers, and applied plant protecting agents, will promote to achieve forecasted crop yields, the index says.

The forecast also noted that the increased harvest of grain crops will be caused by growing domestic consumption from 72.2 million tonnes to 81.3 million tonnes (including 46 million tonnes for forage purposes), and growth of foreign demand for Russian grains from the current level of 27.2 million tonnes to 46 million tonnes.

The achievement of forecasted export indices will also require the creation of new port capacities and modernisation of the port transport infrastructure in the Azov-Black Seas basin and the Far East, as the current capacities can only allow about 30 million tonnes of grain exports annually.