2024-05-09 17:48:03
Her reduction of this year’s harvest announced two of the key grain growing areas in Russia, due to the May frosts that caused serious damage. “The frosts that hit the regions in early May led to devastating consequences,” Igor Artamonov, governor of the Lipetsk region, said on the Telegram messaging app. “We have to understand that this year’s harvest will be much smaller than the last.”
Voronezh is in a state of emergency
The neighboring region of Voronezh announced that it had declared a state of emergency. “According to preliminary data, the area of grain that has been destroyed or damaged exceeds 2,650,000 hectares,” the regional Ministry of Agricultural Economy announced on Telegram.
Voronezh and Lipetsk regions it is part of the fertile Black Earth region of Russia. Russia is one of the largest producers and exporters of grain in the world.
In addition to grains, the two regions also produce other crops, such as potatoes, sunflowers, sugar beets and fruits. Their announcements do not specify how each of these crops may be affected by the frosts.
The ministry of the Voronezh region announced that the damage was caused by the frosts on the nights of May 3-4 and 4-5, when the air temperature had dropped to -4.6 degrees Celsius and the ground temperature to -5 degrees Celsius.
He also says in his announcement that the declaration of a state of emergency will allow farmers to “document the objective inability to achieve the target indicators” they are required to achieve in order to receive subsidies, as well as to apply for insurance payments.
Lipetsk Governor Artamonov said his region was also considering declaring a state of emergency.
Frost in a number of regions of central European Russia
Industry analysts recorded frosts in a number of regions of central European Russia, the Volga and the south of the country. They say the regions are now facing another wave of cold spells which will affect crop conditions after an early, warm spring.
Analysts have already cut their forecasts for the 2024 grain harvest because of the lack of rain in the south, but the impact of the glaciers has not yet been factored into the forecasts.
In mid-April, the agriculture ministry said the 2024 grain harvest could fall to 132 million metric tons from 144.9 million tons in 2023.
Sources: AMPE, Reuters