MOSCOW: Cold weather across Russia has caused significant delays to spring grain sowing, but will not affect the overall harvest, Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut said on Wednesday, according to Russian news agencies.
Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, suffered grain crop losses in the two previous years due to spring frosts, which hit crops in many southern regions, but the losses were offset by a better-than-expected harvest in other regions.
Temperatures plummeted in many grain-producing areas in Russia in April after a warm March and a snowy winter, with experts saying the melting snow will provide enough moisture for plants ahead of the summer drought.
“The delay is currently significant due to bad weather. However, there is nothing to worry about, as seasons vary,” Lut said. She declined to provide a forecast for the overall grain crop this year. “We haven’t even sown yet, so there is no forecast, but everything will be fine,” she said.
Russia has sown spring grain over an area of 3.2 million hectares so far, out of a planned 56 million hectares.