Rye Production Will Continue to Decline

The Russian Grain Union (RGS) expects a rye deficit in the new season: a reduction in acreage combined with a drop in yield due to the transition to domestic varietal seeds will lead to a significant decrease in gross collection, RGS President Arkady Zlochevsky told Agroinvestor. Last year, he recalls, domestic crop producers harvested 1.2 million tons of this agricultural crop. "We are observing not only a reduction in sowing, but also expect a yield decline due to the transition to domestic varietal seeds. This year, the import of German progenitors was banned, from which the Lipetsk Breeding Center, organized by a German investor, grew rye hybrids that were much more productive than our varietal seeds," he explains. According to RGS information, while the first yielded up to 7.5 tons/ha, the latter produced 4 tons/ha in a good year. This situation, Zlochevsky believes, may lead to a certain rye deficit in the domestic market. Independent grain market expert Alexander Korbut ...