Buckwheat harvest in Russia this year will decrease, but no significant price fluctuations for buckwheat groats are expected, according to the head of "ProZerno" company, Vladimir Petrichenko.
"Despite the issues in Altai (one of the leading buckwheat producers), the buckwheat harvest will be quite good. I believe that the prices for buckwheat groats will not fluctuate much, although inflation will be growing. The same goes for rice, as its harvest will be higher than last year," Petrichenko said at the XVI Congress of flour milling and groats enterprises of Russia in Moscow.
According to his presentation, the buckwheat harvest this year will be 1.272 million tons compared to 1.475 million tons in 2023, and rice - 1.103 million tons versus 1.066 million tons, respectively.
At the same time, production of millet for wheat groats may decrease from 308 thousand tons to 450 thousand tons from the previous year. A slight reduction in oats harvest is also expected - down to 3.273 million tons from 3.304 million tons in 2023.
According to Rosstat data, oat sowing areas decreased by 10.5% this year, to 1.708 million hectares; millet decreased by 1.9% to 292 thousand hectares, buckwheat decreased by 15.1% to 1.092 million hectares. Rice sowing increased by 9.1% - 207 thousand hectares.