The autumn sowing campaign has started on the Don

In the Rostov region, a field campaign has begun to lay the main foundation for the grain harvest in 2023 - sowing winter crops. This was announced at a meeting with the heads of supervised authorities by the first deputy governor of the Rostov region Viktor Goncharov.
“In the north of the Don and in a number of eastern districts of the region, the autumn sowing campaign has started, about 180 thousand hectares, or 6% of the sowing plan, have already been sown with winter crops. In general, Don agrarians need to sow about 2.8 million hectares of winter crops for the harvest of 2023, of which 99% are grains, Viktor Goncharov said. “At the moment, almost 20 districts of the region have started winter sowing.”
At the meeting, it was emphasized that the autumn sowing campaign is a particularly important period for the Don agro-industrial complex, since the main grain crop in the Rostov region is precisely winter crops.
“Thanks to domestic highly productive varieties of winter wheat and barley, which have high winter hardiness, it is possible to form high grain yields even under adverse spring and summer weather conditions,” the First Deputy Governor emphasized. - This year is a confirmation of this, since the Don region, despite difficult weather conditions, came out on top in the country in terms of the harvest of early grain crops, collecting more than 14.5 million tons, which is almost two million tons more than last year. At the same time, the gross harvest of winter wheat exceeded 13.3 million, or 92% of the gross harvest of early grains, with an average yield of 44.5 q/ha. In general, the Rostov region has been the leader in the production of early grain and leguminous crops in the Russian Federation for the fourth year in a row.”
According to the Don Ministry of Agriculture and Food, today the preparation of the soil for sowing winter crops is almost completed in the region, in the areas freed up after harvesting early grain crops. So, today 2.5 million hectares or 90% have been prepared.
In agricultural enterprises and farms of the region, seeds of winter crops are being harvested - out of the required 560 thousand tons, 406 thousand tons (73%) have been harvested.
“Today there are no concerns about providing farmers with grain seeds, sowing will be carried out almost in full with seeds of domestic selection, mainly produced in the Don,” Viktor Goncharov noted. – In order to introduce new promising varieties that are more productive and adapted to the changing climate of our region, state support is provided annually for the development of elite seed production. So this year, funds in the amount of more than 360 million rubles are provided for these purposes.”
Agricultural producers of the region continue to purchase mineral fertilizers and fuels and lubricants for winter sowing. The readiness of agricultural machinery for autumn field work is 95%.