This year, there may be a slight decrease in buckwheat harvest compared to last year, but rice production is expected to moderately increase. This was reported by the CEO of the analytical company "ProZerno," Vladimir Petrichenko, during the XVI Congress of flour and groats enterprises, as noted by "AgroExpert" publication. However, it is expected that the anticipated harvest will be sufficient to ensure the availability of these products.
According to Petrichenko's presentation, the gross buckwheat harvest may reach 1.27 million tons, slightly less than last year (1.47 million tons). Although the yield of this agricultural crop has increased, the sowing area has decreased from 1.29 million hectares to 1.09 million hectares. The rice harvest is expected to be slightly above 1.1 million tons compared to 1.07 million tons last year. The total rice planting area has also increased from 192 thousand hectares to 207 thousand hectares. It is projected that the gross millet harvest will decrease from 450 thousand tons to 306 thousand tons due to a reduction in the planting area and a decrease in yield.
Overall, Petrichenko predicts a good harvest despite issues related to buckwheat, mainly in Altai, the main region of its production. He is confident that significant price fluctuations for buckwheat are not expected, despite inflationary growth. The same can be said for rice, as its gross harvest will be higher than last year.
Analyst of the "National Rice Union" Association, Valeriy Ladatko, previously informed "AgroInvestor" publication that the current situation with rice plantings suggests that the harvest will not be worse than last year. However, the weather conditions this year did not allow for fully realizing the potential of the varieties grown in the fields. The temperature drop in early May affected the seed germination, and the dry weather in the Krasnodar region in the second half of the growing season led to an increase in spikelet sterility.
In late August, Petrichenko mentioned that this year's buckwheat harvest could reach 1.3 million tons. At that time, the yield situation looked promising. He emphasized that everything depends on the weather in the Altai region: if the weather stabilizes, Russian producers may harvest 1.3 million tons or even more. However, if heavy rains continue, the gross harvest will be lower. Last week, a state of emergency was declared in the Altai region due to soil overmoistening and delays in harvesting: in some areas, a significant amount of precipitation fell over three months from August to September.