Hot and dry weather will dominate the European part of Russia in early summer, the head of Russian weather forecaster Hydrometcentre said on Thursday, a potential risk for the 2014 grain harvest. "The summer will begin with hot weather," Roman Vilfand told a news conference in Moscow. High temperatures and dry weather will hit most regions in the European part of Russia for at least five days from June 1, he said.
The crop will suffer if rains do not come to several growing regions as expected this week in Russia, one of the world's main wheat exporters via the Black Sea, analysts have said. According to Vilfand, the main grain-growing regions still have enough moisture in the soil, despite a lack of winter snow, thanks to a rainy autumn. Currently the only region with a lack of soil-moisture is the Volga Federal district, which is likely to face problems, he said.
In general, grain crops are in a normal condition compared to the average of previous years, he said. There was a 70 percent probability that temperatures will be higher than usual "without an excess of precipitation" in June-August, Vilfand added. The agriculture ministry forecast the 2014 crop at 100 million tonnes a week ago, its most optimistic estimate so far and up from 95 million tonnes, but gave no reason for the move.
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