7 Apr 2023 10:52

Agriculture Ministry defines Russia 2023 harvest plan at 120 mln tonnes - project declaration

MOSCOW. April 7 (Interfax) - Russia's Agriculture Ministry declared its planned level for the country's 2023 grain harvest at 120 million tonnes, according to the public project declaration of the Ministry's priority targets and objectives for 2023 posted on its website.

The Ministry announced in December of last year that a balance of interests of producers, consumers and exporters would allow the country to harvest 125-127 million tonnes, including 80-85 million tonnes of wheat.

The document clarifies that the planned figure does not take grain harvested by private farms into account. According to Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) data, in recent years the share of these farms in the total harvest has been in the range of 0.8-1.1%.

Last year, Russia harvested 157.7 million tonnes of grain, including 104.2 million tonnes of wheat.

According to the document, the planned level for the oilseed harvest this year is 24.6 million tonnes. The harvest was 29.1 million tonnes in 2022, according to Rosstat.

Additionally, the potato harvest in the public sector is expected to be nearly 7.2 million tonnes, similar to last year's figure; vegetables in winter greenhouses should total 1.54 million tonnes; and fruit and berries are forecast to total 1.6 million tonnes in 2023 against 1.5 million tonnes in 2022.

In livestock breeding, the planned levels for the current year are higher than last year. The production of livestock and poultry for slaughter on farms of all categories is planned at 16.4 million tonnes against 16.2 million tonnes in 2022, and milk production is planned at 33.2 million tonnes versus 33 million tonnes in 2022.