August 30, 2010

Grain sowing drags at 50% in drought-hit Russia

Drought-hit Russia has sown winter grains on only half the area it had planted a year ago, while a weather forecast offered no relief to many key grain-growing regions, official data showed Friday (Aug 27).

Farmers had sown 484,900 winter grain hectares as of August 26, 479,800 hectares less than a year ago, the Agriculture Ministry said. It said an optimum period for the winter grain sowing started on August 15 in the Central and Volga Federal Districts, where the sowing lagged behind last year's due to soil aridity.

Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik has said that farmers would have to increase spring grain planting areas by some 30% to make up losses on areas unlikely to be sown to winter grains due to a lack of soil moisture.

But analysts said winter grain losses can only partially be compensated by an increase in the sown area and grain planted in spring tends to be lower yielding than winter grain.

Last week, Russia's chief weather forecaster said mass winter grain sowing in European Russia, hit by a severe drought, was unlikely at least until September 10, although rains in some regions had brought some relief.

A fresh weather forecast for August 27-29 showed that heat was unlikely to leave key grain-growing regions shortly.

Local rains of variable strength are expected in the coming days in some parts of the Central, Volga and Southern Federal Districts, the Hydrometcentre weather forecasting service said. But dry and hot weather is expected in the Southern Federal District and in North Caucasus with day temperatures of 27-35 degrees Celsius (80.6-95 Fahrenheit).

Weak rains with temperatures ranging 18-29 degrees Celsius are expected in the Central Black Soil regions and in the Urals. Siberia is expected to be generally dry and hot, which favours the grain harvesting campaign which is proceeding there.

Russia, devastated by a severe drought, had harvested 41.9 million tonnes of grain by bunker weight by August 26, the Agriculture Ministry statement said. It did not provide a comparison to last year's crop.

On Wednesday, the ministry said the country had harvested 41.5 million tonnes of grain by August 25, which was 31% less than at the same date a year ago.