January 11, 2008

Wheat pushes Russia's grain production to 4-percent increase
 

A 9.7-percent rise in wheat output has pushed Russia's 2007 grain crop to 81.76 million tonnes, 4 percent more than in the previous year, according to preliminary data from the Federal Statistics Service.

The wheat crop, amounting to 49.37 million tonnes, was the biggest in 5 years.

Bigger wheat harvests in most regions of Russia, especially Siberia, offset a lower crop in the Southern Federal District due to a drought in Rostov and Volgograd regions. Droughts in Southern Russia also reduced the barley crop 14 percent to 15.65 million tonnes, the lowest level since 2000.

The rye crop increased by almost a third to 3.9 million tonnes, although it remained lower than the five-year average between 2001 and 2005.

The corn crop rose to its highest in 18 years, to 3.95 million tonnes thanks to a 45-percent increase in the sown area despite lower yields.

The overall area sown to the 2007 crop rose 2.4 percent from the previous year and the average yield increased 4.8 percent to a record 1.98 tonnes per hactare.

             Federal Statistics Service, Russia

Russian grain production in 2007 ('000 tonnes)