The grain harvest in Russia could reach 102 million tonnes this year, First Agriculture Ministry Deputy Minister Yevgeny Gromyko said.
“The main gross forecast for this year’s harvest is not changing. It will be on the level of 100 million tonnes. If God helps, and the weather situation calms down a little bit, then it could even be 101-102 million tonnes,” Gromyko said.
The yield forecast is constantly being changed, and weather conditions are being taken into account, including the drought where crops over a 1.7 million hectare area have suffered in nine Russian regions.
Gromyko said that among the regions suffering from drought were the Transbaikal territory, Tuva, Buryatia, the Irkutsk, Orenburg, Samara, and Saratov regions.
“In the Orenburg oblast, we expect yields of 8.5 to 9 centers per hectare,” the deputy minister said.
Gromyko is in Simferopol taking part in a meeting for national security issues, which is being conducted by the Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev.
