November 19 2003, 14:57

Russia: fieldwork progress as of Nov. 11

According to Russian Agriculture Ministry, as of November 11 grains in the country were harvested from 37.9 million hectares, which is 88.6 percent of the sown area, Russian Grain Union has informed. The farmers collected 72.6 million tonnes of grain, which is by 21.2 million tonnes less than as of the same date last year.

As of November 11 maize for grain was harvested from 469,600 hectares (63 percent of sown area), the obtained amount of grain was 1.7 million tonnes, at a yield of 3.61 tonnes per hectare.

If weather conditions in southern regions permit to harvest all the areas of maize, this will contribute another 400,000 tonnes of grain and will bring the total crop of grains and pulses to 73 million tonnes.

Sugar beet has been harvested from 91.7 percent of sown area (the area figure is not provided). The amount of harvested beets is 19.5 million tonnes at an average yield of 22.93 tonnes per hectare.

Sunflower has been harvested from 86.6 percent of the sown area (the area value is not provided). The farmers obtained 4.8 million tonnes of sunseeds at a yield of 1.05 tonne per hectare, which is about last year's level.