Russian breadbasket observes high yields as wheat harvest begins

Farmers in Russia’s southern Rostov region, one of the most prominent grain-producing and -exporting areas of the transcontinental country, are observing high wheat yields as harvesting gets underway, growers and officials in the Rostov region said.

After being hit by sanctions, Russia, the world’s largest wheat explorer, is expected to produce a massive crop in 2022, with record amounts available to supply abroad in the July-June marketing season.

The first deputy governor of Rostov region, Viktor Goncharov, said the crop prospects are good and the wheat yields are 0.1-0.2 tons per hectare higher than the previous year. Viktor Goncharov added that weather and readiness of equipment made everything favorable.

Russia’s exports are crucial for global wheat supply as Ukraine’s Black Sea ports have been blocked after Kremlin sent thousands of troops in the Eastern European nation on February 24, 2022.

The Rostov region is predicted to repeat last year’s record crop when it harvested 12.7 million tons of wheat grain, including 11.5 million tons of winter wheat, first deputy governor Viktor Goncharov told reporters at one of the farms in the southwestern region of Russia.

Western sanctions imposed on Russia for what Moscow terms a “special military operation” in Ukraine have not affected the supply of harvesting equipment so far as farmers in the region mostly use locally-produced combine and tractors.