Ministry: Russia’s winter crop failure at less than 6%

HARARE, May 4 (PRIME) -- The failure of winter crops in Russia does not exceed 6% in the current season as less than 1 million hectares of the crops were lost out of the total sown area of 16 million hectares, Pyotr Chekmaryov, head of the Agriculture Ministry’s plant breeding department, told reporters on April 30.

“The winter crops are in good state thanks to a warm spring, we had almost no return of frosts and there was rain. The failure is small, less than 1 million hectares, which is good for the country, it is a small figure comparing with 16 million hectares,” he said,

He added that the ministry has “good forecasts” for the winter crops, which will be finalized after the spring sowing campaign.

If the spring sowing campain is successful, Russia may harvest a bumper 104 million tonnes of grain 2016, he said.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, Russia sown 11.052 million hectares with spring crops as of April 29, or about 28.8% more than a year earlier. The sown area accounts for 21% of the area planned for spring sowing.

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