Russian Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik said on Monday that winter grain losses in the 2011/12 crop year are expected to be average, meaning farmers may reap a good winter cereals harvest. Russia has sown 16.1 million hectares with winter grains for the 2012 crop, up from 15.9 million a year ago following a severe drought, but down from 18.9 million hectares in 2009.
"We expect losses of between six and seven percent (of the total sown area), which is an average level, and if we have 15.1 million hectares, this will be a normal area left after the wintering," Skrynnik told a news briefing.
"With average yields, we may harvest up to 40 million tonnes of winter grains, which is two million tonnes above the average in the last five years," she added.
Winter grains, primarily winter wheat and some winter barley, have bigger yields than the spring grains and account for a substantial part of the total grain crop. In 2010, Russia harvested 27.9 million tonnes of winter wheat out of the total wheat crop of 41.5 million tonnes, and in 2009 - nearly 39 million tonnes out of the total of 61.7 million.
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