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- Grain message: farmers in southern Russia may lose up to 25% of their crops due to drought
Grain message: farmers in southern Russia may lose up to 25% of their crops due to drought
Farmers in southern Russia may lose up to 25% of their grain, corn and sunflower crops due to drought. An emergency regime has already been introduced in the Krasnodar Territory, the Rostov Region and the Crimea, the People's Farmer Association told Izvestia. The problem is recognized by the governors of the territories, who announced the loss of up to a third of the crop. The State Duma is preparing a letter to the Ministry of Agriculture with a request to allocate state support to agricultural producers. The ministry recognizes the problem, but says it maintains the forecast for harvesting legumes at 135 million tons under favorable weather conditions.
Which regions were most affected by the heat wave
Crop losses of grain, corn and sunflower due to drought in some regions of southern Russia may amount to up to 25% compared to the volumes of 2024. This was reported to Izvestia by the People's Farmer Association, which assessed the situation after the introduction of emergency situations due to abnormally hot weather in the Krasnodar Territory, Rostov Region and Crimea.
— The situation in the Rostov region is probably one of the worst today. The emergency mode has already been introduced in 21 districts. And in the Krasnodar Territory — at nine. Currently, the yield is around 46 quintals per hectare, while last year it was around 62 quintals. That is, this is a minus of more than 25% compared to last year," Konstantin Yurov, deputy chairman of the association, explained to Izvestia.
He explained that the emergency regime was introduced based on the effects of drought on grain crops, primarily wheat and barley.
— But it is already clear that the harvest of row crops, such as corn and sunflower, will suffer. There will be practically no such crops in areas where an emergency regime has been introduced. However, according to our observations, this situation is now being recorded in more areas where the emergency regime has not been introduced. Therefore, there will be a large shortage of crops," Konstantin Yurov noted.
As an example, he cited data from the authorities of the Krasnodar Territory, who estimated losses at 2.8 million tons of grain, ears and legumes. The association is now more concerned about what will happen to farms that have received smaller harvests for wheat and barley and practically did not receive them for corn and sunflower.
— As an association, we are currently negotiating with suppliers of seeds and fertilizers to help these farms, but we are very much counting on the help of the authorities, as well as attention to the situation of the federal center. We are afraid that many farmers simply will not be able to survive this year," explained the deputy chairman of the association.
The situation has already been noticed in the State Duma, where they are preparing an appeal to the Ministry of Agriculture with a request to provide assistance to farmers. As Sergey Lisovsky, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee for the Protection of Competition, told Izvestia, we are talking about allocating subsidies from the federal budget to farmers. He also noted that currently the only measure of support is agricultural insurance, but no more than 40% of the costs can be refunded.
— In a number of regions of Russia, the issue of drought and measures is now very acute. These are primarily the Rostov Region, Krasnodar Territory and Crimea. In order to stabilize the situation of agricultural producers and prevent bankruptcy and withdrawal from agriculture, the Ministry of Agriculture urgently needs to take support measures. Because now many previously successful farms are selling their businesses," the deputy said.
The concern of farmers and deputies is confirmed by the authorities of the subjects where the emergency regime was introduced. So, the acting governor of the Rostov region previously told the media that due to the weather conditions in the region, they would harvest a third less. According to him, about 8 million tons of grain will be harvested instead of 11 million tons. Veniamin Kondratiev, the head of the Krasnodar Territory, also spoke about crop reduction. According to him, the yield of these crops in the Krasnodar Territory is just over 46 quintals per hectare, which is lower than in 2024.
In Crimea, an emergency regime was introduced in eight districts in early July, the media reported. At the same time, earlier the local Ministry of Agriculture lowered the forecast for winter grains and legumes from 1.5 to 1.1 million tons.
— Yes, this year we will have a crop failure in cereals and vegetables, but not so much because of the heat, but because of the lack of precipitation. At the same time, there were much worse years, for example, 1994. Therefore, I don't see anything unexpected in this," Sergei Tsekov, first deputy chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea, told Izvestia.
How much harvest is expected in the Ministry of Agriculture
In 2025, unfavorable conditions for the formation of grain crops have developed in certain regions of southern Russia, in particular in the Rostov region, the Republic of Crimea and some areas of the Krasnodar Territory, the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed to Izvestia the difficulties caused by hot weather.
"At the same time, in most regions of the Central, Volga, and North Caucasus Federal Districts, as well as in some southern regions (Adygea, Volgograd), the actual yield is higher than last year's figures," the department noted.
In this regard, the Ministry of Agriculture maintains the forecast for the production of grain and leguminous crops at the level of 135 million tons under favorable weather conditions during the harvest period. By the end of 2024, 129.8 million tons of such crops were harvested in Russia.
At the same time, the ministry refrained from commenting on the question of whether any assistance would be provided to farmers affected by the drought.
— The Rostov region has always taken the first place in terms of grain harvest in Russia, and the Krasnodar Territory - the second. Next came the Stavropol Territory and the Saratov region. But if the first regions have suffered, then this is not very good, since there is the best zone in the country for growing these crops," Leonid Kholod, ex—Deputy Minister of Agriculture, told Izvestia.
According to him, this year there was hope for a good harvest of cereals and legumes in the Central Federal District, where the winter crops overwintered perfectly, but it rained, after which part of the harvest was lost. Therefore, there will also be a lag in these regions compared to last year, the expert noted. At the same time, he believes that in general, Russia will be able to harvest 125-130 million tons of all grains and legumes, which will be enough for both domestic consumption and export.
The harvest will be smaller, but this will not affect the domestic market in any way, but exports may decrease, says Georgy Ostapkovich, scientific director of the HSE Center for Economic Studies. According to him, one should always be prepared for such a situation in the agro-industrial complex, since the dependence on weather conditions in this industry is very high. Most likely, export earnings from grain sales will decrease, the expert believes.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
