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Significant decline of grain harvest forecasted for Siberia due to severe drought

The abnormal drought will trigger colossal losses for Siberia’s farmers

BARNAUL, August 22 (Itar-Tass) —— An unprecedented decline of grain harvest is forecasted for Siberia due to the severe drought. Presidential Envoy to the Siberian Federal District Viktor Tolokonsky got detailed information about the situation in the regions during a special conference here on Wednesday. He urged the heads of the regions to take special steps for the regulation of the grain market in the federal district.

The abnormal drought will trigger colossal losses for Siberia’s farmers. This year’s grain harvest in the Altai territory is forecasted at 2.2-2.3 million tonnes, as compared to 4.2 million tonnes in 2011.

The Novosibirsk region is projected to gather only 1.8 million tonnes, as against three million tonnes in the year of 2011. The Omsk region’s grain harvest is forecasted at two million tonnes, which is one million tonnes smaller than in 2011. The grain harvest of the Krasnoyarsk territory is projected at about 1.8 million tonnes, as compared to 2.7 million tonnes in the previous year.

This year’s bad harvest may complicate the situation with prices on the consumer market. “Our key task is to support the stability of prices. It is impossible to allow sharp jumps of prices,” Tolokonsky said.

As one of the steps for curbing hike of prices for agricultural goods, he mentioned the use of grain from the government’s Intervention Fund. The Siberian Federal District stores about two million tonnes of such grain. “The mechanism of grain interventions should become a full-fledged instrument for the grain market regulation,” the presidential envoy stressed.

In Tolokonsky’s words, the governors of the Siberian regions should also take certain steps to render assistance to farmers, who face the need to spend additional money for the purchase of feeds for animal farming. The drought also damaged the feed gathering process.