Under the scorching sun and temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius, farmers in the Rostov region, Russia's breadbasket, are struggling to save crops ravaged by heat, cold and floods, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Source of 11 percent of Russia's total grain harvest last year, Rostov Oblast is one of the key regions the country's agriculture ministry said it is monitoring to make further adjustments to its 2024 crop forecast.< /p>
The ministry's latest estimate, made in April and confirmed last week, is for Russia's grain harvest to reach 132 million tonnes in 2024 - down 9 percent from 145 million in 2023, and down 16 percent from hundred compared to a record 158 million in 2022.
Last week, Rostov Oblast said it expected its grain harvest there to drop 38 percent this year to 10 million tons as a heat wave followed spring frosts.
"Wheat came out of the winter in good condition and the prospects for the harvest were excellent, but now we are harvesting what we have left," commented Sergey Sassonov, chief agronomist of a farm in the Rostov region.
He estimates that the farm has harvested only half of last year's volume.
Russia has become the world's leading wheat exporter thanks to massive government support and despite Western sanctions on technology and equipment dating back to Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea.
The agricultural boom transformed many southern regions such as Rostov, and cultivated fields now dominate the landscape. It also improved the standard of living in the regions.
Global warming has opened up new northern regions in Russia to agriculture, but extreme weather conditions have made harvests unstable in southern regions such as Rostov Oblast.
Russia's Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut cited drought as a major factor that could force the government to revise its forecast for this year's grain harvest.
A weaker-than-expected harvest will fuel Russian inflation, which hit 8.6 percent year-on-year in June, amid high government spending and wage growth in an economy showing signs of overheating.
The consulting company for agriculture "Sovekon" (Sovecon) said temperatures in key grain-producing regions will remain 2-6 degrees above normal in the coming weeks.
According to the chief meteorologist of Russia, Roman Vilfand, the periods of extreme heat in the country will become longer in the coming years, and floods and hurricanes will become more frequent.