Drought in Russia threatens country’s grain harvest in 2025 – Reuters
Sowing of winter crops in Russia is in a very difficult situation due to severe drought, which, according to analysts and managers of agricultural companies, could seriously affect next year’s harvest.
This is reported by the Reuters agency.
Sovecon, a consultancy, has warned that wheat planting rates in Russia have fallen to their lowest level in 11 years, hurting the outlook for the 2025 grain harvest for the world’s biggest wheat exporter.
“We are closely monitoring the situation with winter crops. It looks extremely complicated and can turn into a dramatic scenario,” said Dmytro Rylko, head of the IKAR consulting company.
Rylko noted that the situation in the Volgograd and Saratov regions of the Russian Federation, which are the fourth and sixth largest grain-producing regions in Russia, is particularly difficult.
Kyrylo Yershov, head of the Aeon Agro company, which cultivates more than 240,000 hectares in the Penza and Saratov regions, confirmed that there will be problems with the wheat harvest next year.
“The situation is very critical, everything is planted in dry soil. We sowed even less than last year. I know that many also sowed less,” Yershov said.
Oleksandr Pryanishnikov from the Shchelkovo Agrochem company noted that farmers in the Penza, Saratov, and Mordovia regions of the Russian Federation were faced with unprecedented sowing rates. “For all the years of working with winter crops, I have not seen such a depressing situation,” he said.
This year, Russia’s main agricultural regions have been adversely affected by extreme weather conditions, from early spring frosts to droughts and heavy rains, which have cooled the agricultural boom that has succeeded despite Western sanctions.
While southern regions and the Volga region suffered from extreme drought in September, which is forecast to last for another two weeks, several grain-producing regions of Siberia have declared a state of emergency due to heavy rains.