Chelyabinsk Oblast Expecting Good Grain Harvest

07.04.2009 — News

THE CHELYABINSK OBLAST.

In 2009 the Chelyabinsk Oblast will spend 1.6 billion roubles for the sowing season. 1.5 million hectares is going to be used for cereal crops. 985 thousand hectares are allocated for wheat crops; the figure includes 160 thousand hectares for durum wheat.

The preparation for the sowing season has much improved in recent years, the Chelyabinsk Oblast government informed RusBusinessNews. 90% of the area will be sown with high-yield seeds which can give good yield crop, weather permitting. The region lost about 300 thousand tons of grain during the 2008 summer draught. Only 1.2-1.3 tons of grain per hectare were harvested instead of usual 1.6-1.7 tons. The total amount of grain harvested in the Chelyabinsk Oblast in 2008 reached 1.76 million tons.