BELOKURIKHA /Altai Territory/, February 27. /TASS/. The 2025-2026 marketing year will see a historic record for global grain production, Igor Shpakov, consultant for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) liaison office in Russia, said at the Winter Grain Conference.

"Global grain production has surpassed the 3-billion-ton mark. This is a historic record," he said.

He attributed this achievement to a record grain harvest in China (715 million tons).

"We are constantly increasing our wheat estimates due to harvests in Russia, the EU, and Argentina. For corn, volumes are growing in China, the US, and Argentina. Rice continues to set new records, with Indonesia joining the mix this year," the FAO representative said.

According to Shpakov's presentation, the global wheat harvest in 2025-2026 will total 834.71 million tons (+4.54%). Harvests of corn, rice and soybeans will total 1.311 billion tons (+7.42%), 561.64 million tons (+1.96%) and soybeans 430.26 million tons (+0.11%) respectively.

The Winter Grain Conference was held from February 25 to 27 in the resort town of Belokurikha in Russia’s Altai Territory. The platform was created to define development strategies for Russian grain industry enterprises, make effective management decisions through high-quality business contacts, and exchange current market information. The conference is sponsored by the Altai Grain Processors Union, Altai Grain Conferences, the Prozerno company, and the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies. The event is supported by the Altai Territory government and the Russian Agriculture Ministry.