2016 will be the most successful in the post-Soviet period for exports of Russian grain. The Russian Federation may leave both Canada and the US behind on this indicator.
According to the head of the Russian Grain Union, Arkady Zlochevsky, "the harvest is being carried out at a faster pace. 73 million tons have already been harvested. This is substantially more than last year. And the crop capacity is higher – 33.1 centners per hectare, last year it was 29 centners. The pace of the harvest and crop conditions suggest that the harvest will range from 114 to 116 million tonnes. In post-Soviet Russia, there have been no such figures since 1992".
The historical record was in 1978, when 127.8 million tons were harvested on the territory of Russia. "But that was achieved at the expense of very large areas, 78 million hectares were sown with grain. This provided a record volume of grain harvest. And this year 46 million hectares were sown, but we are planning to get a greater harvest," the expert said.
According to him, technological development caused the increase in productivity. There are good harvest results in the Central Black Earth and Volga regions.
However, Zlochevsky warned that the grain quality will be lower than last year: "The percentage of high quality grain is being reduced. This always happens when the weather is favorable for the harvest. Conversely, a dry summer brings a higher quality, but smaller harvest. This is a natural phenomenon."
