July 21, 2010

Russian gross grain crop at 21 million tonnes so far

Russia harvested 21 million tonnes of grain by bunker weight by July 20, 0.72 million tonnes more than a year ago, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

Harvesting began in June.

The ministry has said the total grain crop may fall below 85 million tonnes against 97 million tonnes harvested last year while some analysts believe the country may harvest less than 75 million tonnes this year.

Bunker weight is normally 7-8 % higher than the clean weight obtained after the grain is cleaned and dried, but the difference may be lower in hot and dry years, such as this year.

The ministry did not provide separate data on grain losses but the country's grain lobby estimated that as of July 16, grains have been lost on 9.6 million hectares of the 43.6 million hectares sown to this year's crop.

Grains have been harvested from 7.5 million hectares, or 17.1% of the targeted area and 1.0 million hectares more than a year ago, a ministry statement said.

The wheat crop by July 20 was 15 million tonnes, while barley output was 2.1 million tonnes. The ministry gave no comparison to a year-ago volumes. It said the bulk of the grain had been harvested in the regions largely unaffected by the drought.

States of emergency due to drought have been declared by July 20 in 23 regions along the Volga, in the southern part of the Urals, in the centre of the European part of the country and in Siberia, up from 17 regions by July 16.