Russia harvests 129.8 mln tonnes of grain in 2024 - AgMin

MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax) - Russia harvested 129.8 million tonnes of grain in 2024, Deputy Agriculture Minister Andrei Razin said at a round table at the Federation Council on Thursday, referring to Rosstat data.

"Despite unfavorable weather conditions [last year], we had a decent harvest, the fifth in the history of our country at almost 130 million tonnes - 129.8 million tonnes according to the latest data from Rosstat," the deputy minister said.

The harvest statistics include the new regions.

Crop production depends on environmental and climatic changes most of all, he said. "Last year served as clear proof of that. We experienced all the problems that we could possibly have faced throughout the agronomic year: droughts, waterlogging during harvesting, as well as moisture deficiencies," he said.

Razin said that crops formed the bulk of Russia's agrarian export potential. "In 2024, Russia was the biggest exporter of wheat, barley and sunflower oil in value terms," he said.

The impact of the weather on the industry is expected to increase in future. With reference to data from the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Rushydromet), the deputy minister said that the average temperature in Russia rose 0.8 degrees between 1976 and 2020. "We will see a further increase to 1.5 degrees by 2030, and then to two degrees," he said. "The change in the average annual temperature is a trend that we definitely need to be working with now already."

"On the one hand, this is an advantage for us, as it will increase the potential of our eastern and northern territories, where we have the most unused land. On the other hand, however, we are experiencing more and more droughts in the south and in the North Caucasus Federal District. There are also problems with extreme rainfall that affect production technology and guaranteed results," the deputy minister said.

As reported, Russia's grain harvest was 144.9 million tonnes in 2023, including 92.8 million tonnes of wheat, excluding new regions.