Moscow | Reuters — Late winter frosts in Russia’s southern breadbasket regions are unlikely to inflict significant damage on winter crops, the state weather forecasting agency said on Monday in a forecast for the end of February.
Analysts have been reducing their 2025 wheat harvest and export forecasts following reports that more than 37 per cent of winter crops are in poor condition due to a lack of moisture in the ground or have failed to sprout.
“In the southern areas, colder than usual weather is expected, but the intensity of the frost will not meet the criteria for hazardous events, so damage to winter grains and fruit crops is unlikely,” the agency said.
Winter crops account for 90 per cent of wheat production in Russia, the world’s biggest exporter of the grain. Russia’s southern area includes the country’s largest grain-producing regions, Rostov and Krasnodar.
Winter wheat for the 2025 harvest was sown over an area of 17.35 million hectares, of which only 4.64 million hectares were in good condition as of December 10, according to the official data.
— Reporting by Gleb Bryanski
