yolowire.com – Russia’s government has declared a federal state of emergency for 10 agricultural regions across the country due to widespread crop damage caused by spring frosts.
The Russian agriculture minister said the state of emergency was being declared to help speed insurance claims among farmers who have seen their crops decimated by frost that occurred in May of this year.
The state of emergency applies to 10 regions, including Luhansk, a part of eastern Ukraine that Russia claimed as its own territory in 2022 after launching its military invasion.
European agricultural consultancy IKAR has cut its forecast for Russia’s wheat crop this year to 81.5 million metric tons, down 12% from an earlier estimate in March.
Last year, Russia harvested 93 million tons of wheat. Russia is the world’s third biggest wheat producer after China and India.
Analysts say that destroyed wheat and other crops, combined with rising domestic prices, runs the risk that Russia will severely restrict its grain exports this year.
In 2010, Russia banned grain exports entirely after droughts and wildfires devastated its harvest, leading to a surge in global prices.
The wheat crop back in 2010 totalled 41.5 million tons, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s about half the projected total for this season.