MOSCOW - Russia has started grain harvesting in its southern regions with yields higher than at the same date a year ago, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.
The major global wheat exporter is widely expected to harvest the second largest grain crop and the largest wheat crop in its post-Soviet history this year, thanks to favourable weather.
To date, farmers have harvested 364,200 metric tons of grain by bunker weight from 74,200 hectares with an average yield of 4.91 metric tons per hectare. This compares to 230,700 metric tons from 50,800 hectares with an average yield of 4.54 metric tons per hectare at the same date in 2015.
In the Krasnodar region, one of Russia's most important areas for grain exports via the Black Sea, farmers have already harvested 193,800 metric tons of grain with yields averaging 5.38 metric tons per hectare, down from 5.91 metric tons per hectare in the same year-ago period.
The ministry did not say which cereals were being harvested. Russian farmers usually start harvesting barley before wheat. Some analysts and traders have forecast the start of wheat harvesting in late June or early July.
