By Bernama,
Washington : The United States Department of Agriculture expects a growth in the wheat production in Russia and the whole world in the 2008-2009 marketing year, Russian news agency, Itar-Tass, reported Saturday.
According to Itar-Tass, the USDA said it its forecast released on Friday that the risen prices and favourable weather conditions in most countries of the European Union and former Soviet republics contributed to the expected growth in the wheat harvest.
USDA estimated that in Russia, the wheat production will grow to 52 million metric tonnes as compared with 49.4 million tonnes in 2007/2008. It said that the Russian Federation imports one million tonnes of wheat and exports – 12.5 million tonnes. The domestic consumption will be 39 million tonnes and by the end of the marketing year the trade reserves of wheat will reach 4.08 million tonnes – 1.5 million tonnes more than this year.
As for the whole planet, the USDA forecasted a record-high wheat production – 656 million tonnes, which is by eight percent more than in 2007/2008. The wheat consumption is expected to grow by 3.5 percent and by the end of the marketing year the trade reserves will reach 124 million tonnes – by 13 percent more than this year.
The USDA believes that the world production of rice will also reach a record-high level – 432 million tonnes, which is by five million tonnes more than in 2007/2008.
All this will stop the grain price growth and allow poor people to buy enough food products, American expert John Schnittker commented on the published forecasts.