By IANS,
Moscow : Russia has exported about 18 million tonnes of grain in 2011, First Deputy Prime Minister Victor Zubkov said. Russia is one of the world’s largest grain exporters and ships grain to some 84 countries.
Zubkov was speaking to farmers in Moscow Thursday.
According to the Federal Customs Service, Russia exported 17.9 million tonnes of grain this year, Xinhua reports.
Russia’s grain production has recovered from a severe drought in summer 2010, when grain production shrank to 60.9 million tonnes, down 37.3 percent compared to that of 2009.
In 2011, grain output reached nearly 98 million tonnes, a 52.7 percent increase against 2010, Agricultural Minister Yelena Skrynnik said.
The Federal Customs Service said the government intends to export 24 to 25 million tonnes of grain by next July.