The Ministry of Agriculture may reconsider plans for grain exports in the current season. This was stated by the Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev at a visiting meeting of the operational staff of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia in the Republic of Bashkortostan, whose participants discussed the progress of the harvesting campaign in the country, the ministry said.
As the head of the department noted, work is currently underway intensively in all federal districts. 27% of the area was harvested, farmers collected about 55 million tons of grain. The current yield is generally not bad, but the volume of grain harvested at the moment is noticeably less than a year ago. Firstly, in many regions, due to the cold spring, farmers started harvesting later. Secondly, the work itself is not easy - in some areas conditions are complicated by rains, high humidity and winds. In addition, in the current situation, the load on agricultural machinery has been significantly increased, and there are difficulties with the supply of components for foreign equipment.
"Together, all this creates risks in terms of achieving a grain yield of 130 million tons. Of course, we will fully provide our market, there will be no problems with this. However, if the planned volumes are not reached, we will have to revise the export plans of 50 million tons. And this may have a negative impact on the world grain market," D. said.Patrushev, quoted in the message.
According to him, the situation on global markets is not easy, especially for wheat. This season, due to a number of reasons, including drought in the USA and Europe, floods in Australia and bad weather in India, the global supply of food wheat will decrease. Also, due to climatic anomalies, wheat quality is expected to decrease in North America – primarily in the USA. All this, combined with logistical constraints, can lead to serious risks in terms of world food security in the current agricultural year.
The Minister urged the representatives of the regions to do everything possible for high-quality and timely harvesting. In addition, it is necessary to intensify preparations for field work next year. The Ministry of Agriculture has already started forming plans for the acquisition by the subjects of sunflower seeds, sugar beet, soy, corn, rapeseed of domestic selection for sowing in 2023. The execution of these plans will be under the constant supervision of the department.
