Russian grain harvest may top 100 mln tonnes - Fyodorov
MOSCOW. July 16 (Interfax) - Russia's grain harvest may top 100 million tonnes this year.
"This year Russia's grain harvest may top the hundred-million-tonne mark," Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov said on Wednesday during a teleconference concerning the grain harvest, the ministry press center reported.
The Agriculture Ministry said earlier, citing estimates from the regional administrations, that the gross harvest might total 96.7 million tonnes this year, up from 92.4 million tonnes last year.
Russia harvested 20.1 million tonnes of grain (bunker weight) from 5.7 million hectares (12.3% of total sown acreage) as of July 15.
"The yield is 35.5 centners/hectare, which is almost 5 c/ha more than last year," Fyodorov said.
Russia's grain harvest began in Crimea, where over 1 million tonnes of grain (bunker weight) has been harvested from 87% of the sown acreage, he said.