Russia has so far harvested 39.8 million tonnes of grain by bunker weight as the campaign gained momentum in almost all grain-growing regions after a slow start caused by rains, Agriculture Ministry said on Monday. Farmers harvested grain from 30 percent of the sown area by August 8, the ministry said, without providing a comparison for the same date last year, when the country was hit by a severe drought and had to accelerate the harvesting campaign.
Last year, the ministry said Russia harvested 35.4 million tonnes of grain by bunker weight by August 3, 0.4 million tonnes less than a year earlier. This year, average grain yields achieved from the harvested area rose to 3.0 tonnes per hectare from 2.16 tonnes a year ago, the ministry statement said. Russia officially expects to harvest 85-90 million tonnes of grain this year, compared with 61 million tonnes a year ago, although some analysts believe the crop may be bigger.
Bunker weight is used to measure the crop in the course of the harvesting and is normally 5-7 percent higher than the clean weight obtained after grain is cleaned and dried, but the difference may be lower in hot and dry years. Wheat crop by August 8 was 30.3 million tonnes, compared with 27.1 million tonnes by August 3 2010, while average yields rose to 3.27 tonnes per hectare from 2.44 tonnes.
The ministry said that farmers harvested 42,400 tonnes of sugar beets by August 8. Last year, the ministry did not provide data, as by August 3 the harvesting campaign was just starting. Rosgidromet weather forecasting service said on its web site www.meteoinfo.ru that weather conditions will be satisfactory for the harvesting of spring grains and for the formation of the spring grain in both European and Asian parts of Russia in August.