Moscow | Reuters — Russia may increase the planting of oilseeds next year as farmers look for more profitable crops to replace low-margin crops such as wheat, Russia’s main agricultural export, said Dmitry Rylko, head of the IKAR consultancy, on Wednesday.
Rylko said that the area under oilseeds could increase by 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres) to 19 million hectares (47 million acres) or more, noting that oilseeds performed better in 2024 when bad weather affected the Russian harvest.
“An increase of one million hectares in crop rotation is a tremendous figure, considering all the limitations, crop rotations, and seed issues,” he said, adding that the profitability of oilseeds is expected to be better than that of grains in 2025.
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Russian farmers, faced with crop losses this year and low global prices, say they will sow less wheat and switch to more profitable crops. Such decisions will have direct implications for global markets, as Russia is the world’s top exporter of wheat.
Russian analysts cited leaked data from the state weather agency for November that showed that at least 37 per cent of winter crops, mostly wheat, are in poor condition due to a lack of moisture in the ground, saying this is the worst rating recorded to date.
The Russian Ministry of Agriculture has not officially announced data on the state of crops, or its the forecast for a new harvest.
— Reporting by Olga Popova
