Russian agricultural producers boost fertilizer purchases by over 100,000 tonnes in Jan
MOSCOW. Jan 25 (Interfax) - Russian agricultural producers purchased 171,200 tonnes of fertilizers (in the active substance) from January 1-24 of this year, which is 114,000 tonnes more than in the same period of 2011, Russia's Agriculture Ministry said with reference to up-to-date information from management agencies in the agro-industrial complex.
Russia's accumulated fertilizer resources, including carryovers from last year, currently total 280,300 tonnes, or 60,000 tonnes more than in 2011.
These data were presented at an operational meeting on preparations for carrying out spring field work, headed by Agriculture Minister Elena Skrynnik.
Agricultural producers' provisions of grain and legume seeds for spring sowing are currently at 100%. As of January 24, producers had 5.709 million tonnes of seeds against total demand of 6.663 million tonnes.
This year, the total area of spring sowing is expected to come to 50.8 million hectares, which is 300,000 more than last year. Grain and legume crops are expected to cover 30.3 million hectares of the area.