MOSCOW - Russia's winter grains are in need of a protective covering of snow in the central regions of the country, the head of weather forecaster Hydrometcentre said on Tuesday, signalling an increased risk for next year's harvest.
Crops in Russia, one of the world's largest wheat exporters, supplying mainly North Africa and the Middle East, are heavily dependent on changes to weather patterns.
"There is no snow in the Central Federal District," Roman Vilfand, the head of Hydrometcentre, told a press conference in Moscow, when asked about the key risks for winter grains.
If snow does not come in seven to 10 days, and temperatures fall sharply, some winter grains might be damaged. However, if heavy snow arrives and the higher than usual temperatures persist, crops can also be affected, he said.
So far, these regions are expected to get light snow and slightly colder weather in the coming days, Vilfand said.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) currently expects Russia to be the world's second largest wheat exporter after the European Union in the 2015/16 marketing year, thanks to this year's large crop of around 102 million tonnes.
The USDA has yet to release its estimate for the next year's crop and exports.
In general, weather in most of Russia will continue to be far warmer than usual in the coming days, Vilfand said, adding the temperature in Moscow was one degree Celsius short of a record level for the time of year on Monday.
Warm December weather was expected to help Russia harvest a 100 million tonne crop next year - for the third year in a row, SovEcon agriculture consultancy said last week.
This year's winter grains sowing campaign was difficult: it was finished later than usual in the northern part of the southern region, home to Russia's key wheat producing and exporting area. In other regions, the delay was caused by excessive rain, Vilfand said.
As of late November, the country's winter grains were in a better condition than last year but in a worse state than the average of the last five years - about 89 percent of them were in good or satisfactory condition and 11 percent were in poor condition, Hydrometcentre has said.
"This data allows us to understand in which regions problems might occur and re-sowing in the spring might be needed," Vilfand said.
Last year about 16 percent of winter grains were in poor condition at the end of autumn, but favourable winter and spring weather improved the condition for some of them.
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This winter, however, is currently expected to be colder than last year, Vilfand added.
