Russia may reduce wheat crops area by 0.5 million hectares in 2023

Russian Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev held a meeting on planning the structure of sown areas for the 2023 harvest.

The Minister set an important task to ensure the balance of supply in the agricultural market and the maximum profitability of crop production. According to the statement of Dmitry Patrushev, the total area next year will increase by about 50 thousand hectares and will exceed 82 million hectares.

The area under grain and leguminous crops will preliminarily amount to 47.6 million hectares, which is 136 thousand hectares more than this year. This indicator will ensure food security. According to the estimates of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, the gross harvest at the level of 125-127 million tons of grain will allow for maintaining a balance of interests of producers, consumers, and exporters.

The agency says it’s needed to reduce the area under wheat by almost 0.5 million hectares. This is necessary to maintain the balance of prices and stabilize the domestic market in the interests of all participants, as well as to realize the record harvest of the current year. The target for wheat for 2023 is 80-85 million tons.

To maintain the stability of the crop rotation, it’s necessary to increase the area under spring barley by 400 thousand hectares and under leguminous crops – primarily peas – by at least 125 thousand hectares. According to experts, Russia can strengthen its position in the market for these crops.

The area under socially sensitive crops such as rice and buckwheat is planned just above the current year and is sufficient to meet all needs. In addition, growth is announced for sugar beet and soybeans for the next year. The need for sunflower crops is at least 9.8 million hectares and oil flax is at least 2.2 million hectares. An increase in the area under vegetables and potatoes is also predicted – a special federal project will start on them next year.