Earlier today, the Russian minister of agriculture, Alexander
Tkachev, addressed the Federation Council on "Preparing for Spring Field
Work in the Russian Federation".
The minister reported that 17.1 million hectares of winter
crops have been planted (17.3 million hectares in 2016) and 95% of those crops are
in good condition.
Back in October 2017 we
travelled across Russia to assess the condition of wheat and scored 98% of
crops satisfactory or good* so it looks like we agree.
The minister went on to stress the importance of maintaining
the growth rate of agroindustry, in line with government policy of greater agriculture
output.
Tkachev mentioned bringing land that was in long term
fallow or had been abandoned, back into production and said that in 2017 the
sown area exceeded 80 million hectares, returning un-cropped agricultural
land back into production was a priority and that in 2018, the sown area will
increase by at least 200 thousand hectares.
The minister said that the 2017 record grain harvest of 134
million tonnes will allow exports up to 45-47 million tonnes of grain.
"Since the beginning of the agricultural season, 28 million
tonnes of grain have already been exported, which is 35% more than last year.
Export of wheat grew by one third to 22 million tonnes” noted the minister.
To support Russian farmers, the minister highlighted the
recently launched grain transport subsidy so that not only the South of Russia,
but also Siberia, Volga region, Urals, and Central Russia could supply grain to
foreign markets.
The minister went on to say that he was confident that Russia
will firmly consolidate the status of the world's largest wheat supplier.
(*Our November 2017 Russian and Ukraine crop tour report is still
available, drop me a line if you would like to buy copies, priced £100).