October 10, 2008
Russia's grain harvest hit a record high of 100 million tonnes
Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyey told a news conference in Moscow on Thursday, 9 October 2008Russia's grain harvest this year has climbed above the 100-million-tonne mark to a 15 year record-high.
He said the gross harvest was a little above 100 million tonnes and this is a record for the past 15 years. The highest yields were in the Krasnodar Territory, Rostov Region, Voronezh Region, the Republic of Tatarstan and a number of others.
All time records were set by the Stavropol Territory (over 8 million tonnes), the Voronezh Region (over 5 million tonnes) and Lipetsk Region (over 3 million tonnes).
For the first time in Russia's recent history, grain growers collected a record huge amount of the staple crop, 63 million tonnes of wheat, including 34 million tonnes of milling wheat, which is 6 million tonnes more than last year.
