Marat Akhmetov: “Grain crops harvested 2 times slower than last year in Tatarstan”

On August 4 at a weekly regional meeting chaired by Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov Vice-Premier – Tatarstan Minister of Agriculture and Food Marat Akhmetov said that grain crops were harvested two times slower than last year due to rains.

By and large, more than 400 thousand hectares have been harvested in the republic, which is just a little more than a quarter of the areas. 330 thousand hectares (71 per cent) of winter crops have been thrashed. The gross grain harvest makes 850 thousand tonnes, average yield per hectare is 20.3 centners. Buinsky, Nurlatsky, Apastovsky, Zainsky, and Aleekseevsky districts are in the lead.

According to the Minister, some districts seem to expect ideal weather conditions, because even relatively small amount of precipitations did not influence slow rate of grain harvest.

The Minister continued that it is necessary to prepare the soil for sowing of winter crops, which is scheduled to start from August 15, making use of favourable weather conditions for the next few days. He recommended farmers to reconsider their attitude to winter crops and increase their share on grain area up to 40 per cent.

Summing up the meeting, Tatarstan President also noted that it is necessary to make the best use of every day for harvesting work.