AgMin expecting grain harvest this year at 115-116 mln tonnes - Tkachev
MOSCOW. Sept 27 (Interfax) - The Russian Agriculture Ministry is expecting the grain harvest this year at 115 million-116 million tonnes; in 10-15 years, Russia may reach the target harvest of 150 million tonnes.
"If one takes global practice, in general the grain balance is composed by the following method: well-situated countries have a tonne per person, that is, according to these calculation, we need about 150 million, today we will have 115-116, and this means, that we have room to grow," Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
If the agricultural sector keeps developing this way, "and absolutely all the preconditions for growth in crop yields, we are bringing new areas under cultivation, reclaiming acreage that has been grown over or suffered desertification, via land reclamation, other technologies, then in 10, at most 15 years, we will be able to harvest these 150 million tonnes, feed our country and export the lion's share of the harvest," Tkachev said.
Russia harvested 104.8 million tonnes of grain in 2015.