A decrease in grain yields due to the May cold in central Russia may occur

By Rhod Mackenzie

A reduction in grain yields as a result of the May cold in central Russia is possible, but the impact is not expected to be significant enough to affect global trade or the country's food security. Anatoly Tikhonov, a candidate of economic sciences and director of the Center for International Agribusiness and Food Security at the Higher School of Education and Science of the Presidential Academy, informed Izvestia on 13 May.

Earlier this month, on 9 May, Bloomberg reported that drought and frost in Russia could reduce grain yields, which would in turn affect global stock levels and lead to higher wheat prices.

Tikhonov noted that, at present, the fields in the Russian Federation have not yet been fully surveyed, so there are no exact figures.

"It is therefore premature to speculate on the depth of the frost or the extent of damage to the national harvest. The situation in the regions differs significantly. We will be able to make forecasts about the harvest when we have a better understanding of how plants survived the frost in some regions and the drought in others. While a decline in yields is a possibility, the latest statistics indicate that we have a good winter crop, but we are behind schedule with spring sowing. "This may have an impact, but the effect will not be so critical as to affect global trade, much less the level of food security of the country," the expert explained.
On 11 May, Izvestia correspondent Elizaveta Tekunova reported that the cold weather had caused significant damage to crops in the Voronezh region, including wheat, corn, beets and other crops. The weather anomaly also resulted in damage to agricultural products in the Tula, Tambov and Lipetsk regions. In these regions, emergency measures have been implemented in the agricultural sector due to the adverse effects of frost. For instance, in the Voronezh region alone, 265 thousand hectares of crops were either destroyed or suffered partial damage.