Russia to export up to 65 mln tonnes of grain in current farming year - AgMin

MOSCOW. Oct 27 (Interfax) - Russia will export up to 65 million tonnes of grain this agricultural year (July 2023-June 2024), Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said at a government meeting on Friday.

"In the current agricultural season we will be prepared to export up to 65 million tonnes of grain," Patrushev said. Last year, exports totaled 60 million tonnes.

The minister confirmed an earlier harvest forecast of 140 million tonnes of grain for this year, including 93 million tonnes of wheat.

"We expect that Rosstat's final data will confirm a harvest of 140 million tonnes in clean weight, of which about 93 million tonnes will be wheat. This will be the second [highest] result in the country's history, which will supply the domestic market and make it possible to completely fulfil our export obligations. The harvests of other agricultural crops will be higher than the average in the past five years," Patrushev said.

He also said that seasonal field work is in its final stage. Grain has been threshed from 94% of the crop area, the wheat, buckwheat and rice harvests are near completion and the corn harvest is in the active phase, he said.

"We forecast the amount of oil crops at 27 million tonnes, we'll harvest 50.5 million tonnes of sugar beet and the potato and vegetable harvest in the organized sector will be about 8 million tonnes and approximately 7.3 million tonnes. Finally, we expect a fruit and berry harvest of 1.7 million tonnes," Patrushev said.

Winter crops for harvest in 2024 have already been planted on 18.5 million hectares, he said. "For the year they should reach almost 20 million. This is about 1.5 million ha more than last year," Patrushev said.

"Planting is now actively underway in the south, North Caucasus, as well as in the new regions. The weather is not the best so far, we're seeing a lack of precipitation. Nonetheless, we expect planned figures to be reached," Patrushev said.

Russia harvested a record 157.7 million tonnes of grain in 2022, including 104.2 million tonnes of wheat.