Russia's grain sowing campaign fell behind schedule due to cool weather in some regions, with concern focused on the sowing of wheat, the country's key export cereal, data from the Agriculture ministry showed on Thursday. Russia, historically the world's third-largest wheat exporter, needs a large crop this year to replenish stocks and keep an exportable surplus after a drought slashed its grain harvest by one quarter last year.
During the current spring grain sowing campaign the country plans to sow 30.3 million hectares, of which 65 percent or 19.7 million hectares had already been completed as of May 22. It is 1.7 million hectares less than at the same date last year, the ministry said.
The pace of sowing is slower than last year mainly due to cool temperatures in Siberia region, the largest area for spring grain sowing, SovEcon agriculture analysts said in a note. The country has completed its spring wheat sowing so far on 42 percent of the area or 5.4 million hectares, 2.2 million hectares less than on the same date last year.
The conditions for sowing and growing of spring grains are expected to be worse than usual in the majority of the Siberian Federal District due to the lack of warm temperatures until the end of May, the state weather forecaster said. Cool weather in Siberia contrasts sharply with hot and dry weather in parts of the Southern Federal District, the country's main wheat exporting region which accounted for 40 percent of Russia's wheat crop last year. According to weather forecasts, the possibility of wildfires remains high in parts of Russia's south, but risks for the crop are limited, Russia's Grain Union said this week.