Union: Russia may raise sunflower sowing area by 500,000 hectares

MOSCOW, Feb 1 (PRIME) -- Russia may raise the sowing area for sunflower by 500,000 hectares in 2022 as compared with 9.738 million hectares in 2021, Mikhail Maltsev, executive director of the Oil and Fat Union of Russia, told PRIME on Tuesday.

“We forecast that the sunflower sowing area will not decrease, but will in fact rise by 500,000 hectares partially thanks to reduction of the sowing area for winter crops and to re-sowing of crops,” he said.

Russia has enough processing capacities for a new bumper crop of sunflower that may happen in 2022, he said.

The Federal State Statistics Service said that Russia’s sunflower sowing area increased by 14% to 9.738 million hectares in 2021, with the gross harvest of sunflower seeds hitting a record of 15.538 million tonnes, a 16.7% growth as compared with the harvest in 2020.

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