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Volga Baikal AGRO News Update on the Spring Sowing in Russia !!!
By this moment crops are sown on 1.2 million hectares VS 5.4 million hectares in spring 2020.
According to the Agroanalytics Center subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture, by April 12, spring sowing was carried out on an area of 1.2 million hectares, or 2.4% of the forecast. Last year, at this time, agricultural crops were sown on 5.4 million hectares. Including in the Southern Federal District, spring sowing was carried out on 514.3 thousand hectares (9.5% of the forecasted area), in the North Caucasus – on 486.6 thousand hectares (28.8%), in the Central – on 180.4 thousand hectares (1.9%), in the North-West – by 3.4 thousand hectares (0.8%), in the Far East – by 6.7 thousand hectares (1.6%). Sowing started later this year than in 2020 due to weather conditions.
Agroinvestor asked market participants if they had started sowing and how the work is progressing.
Agrofirm “Progress” (Krasnodar Territory) this year began sowing spring crops three weeks later than last. “The early spring crops have already been sown and on April 06 we started sowing corn. We believe that the shift in sowing dates will not affect the volume of the harvest, although, of course, ripening will be later than usual,” – said a general director of the enterprise Alexander Nezhenets. According to him, as of now the moisture reserve in the soil is enough, but there is no certainty that this situation will continue in the future: this year, drought is predicted in the South again. “Therefore, we try to carry out work as quickly as possible and use moisture-saving technology,” added Nezhenets.
A holding “AgroGuard” began sowing sugar beet in the Krasnodar Territory due to weather conditions: two weeks later than in previous seasons, which may already cause some concern in connection with the shortening of the future growing season, says the general director of the company Pavel Tsarev. Sowing of sunflower and corn has not yet begun, but this is not critical yet, he adds. “At the enterprises of the Chernozem region, sowing of early spring crops – wheat and barley – can presumably begin in mid-April – early third decade of the month, depending on the region, which is also not critical,” – he comments. – Sowing of soybeans, corn and sunflower is planned for the end of April – the first ten days of May. “
A CFO of Sucden Group – Gleb Tikhomirov – says that the company started sowing in the Krasnodar Territory and in the Stavropol Territory. “In general, sowing this year in all zones starts with a lag of 10 days relative to 2020, but this is not a big deal,” – he notes. – It rained a lot in the South, which greatly improved the situation. In the Center and the Volga region, the moisture level has largely recovered, but is far from ideal. “
GK “Svetly” (Rostov region) plans to start spring sowing one of these days – for the north of the region these are standard terms, – says the director of the agricultural holding Nikolai Goncharov. “The reserves of moisture in the soil are now average – there is no deficit, but we also do not observe waterlogging. This year we plan to re-sow 20 thousand hectares of dead winter wheat with barley, corn and sunflower,” – he says.
Leonid Mudrov, Commercial Director of the Niva-Mikheev and K agricultural holding (Nizhny Novgorod Region), says that the start of the sowing campaign in the company can be delayed by about a week, but this does not cause fears for the future harvest. “However, this year sowing will require well-coordinated work from agricultural producers, since it will probably have to be carried out in a very short time,” – he says.
According to Mudrov, this year the region has good reserves of moisture in the soil – both for winter and spring crops. True, many farmers of the region are faced with a drop in seed germination after winter, and now they are ready to buy grain seeds 20% more expensive than in 2020. The drop in germination could have occurred for several reasons, including due to improper storage of seeds, – Mudrov suggests.
Razdolye Agro (Tula region) can start the sowing campaign two weeks later than last year. “It is not yet clear how the later sowing will affect the harvest – a lot will depend on the weather in the spring. The sowing delay itself is not critical,” – says Aleksey Ivanov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company. “This year we decided to reduce the area under spring wheat – we will sow less than planned. We made this decision, firstly, due to the introduction of the export duty. Secondly, due to a serious increase in prices for fertilizers – over the year, depending on the type, they have risen in price by 25-35%,” – he says.
