Field diary: Harvesting continues on the Don and sowing of winter crops is picking up pace

In the Rostov region, seasonal field work continues, aimed at harvesting the 2021 crop and laying the 2022 crop.

“Agrarians of the Rostov region are now carrying out the entire range of autumn field work,” said Viktor Goncharov, First Deputy Governor of the Don region. – Late grain, oilseeds and vegetable crops are being harvested. The geography of the autumn sowing campaign is expanding - today 19 regions of the Don have already joined the work on sowing winter crops. Soil is being prepared for sowing winter crops everywhere, which this year is planned to be sown on an area of ​​at least 2.7 million hectares. In this regard, today the main task, using favorable weather, is to complete the entire range of harvesting and sow winter crops as soon as possible.”

According to operational data, out of 220 thousand hectares of late grain crops (corn, sorghum, rice, millet, buckwheat), more than 21 thousand hectares, or about 10%, have been harvested by the region's farms. The gross harvest amounted to almost 50 thousand tons, the average yield was 22.8 q/ha.

The harvesting of oilseeds (rapeseed, mustard, flax, sunflower) is being activated. To date, about 190 thousand tons have been harvested from 13% of the area (about 125 thousand hectares). At the same time, the average yield is 14.9 q/ha.

In addition, the harvesting of vegetables and potatoes in agricultural organizations and peasant farms of the Don continues. The vegetable harvest has been harvested from 62% of the area and has already exceeded 133 thousand tons, with an average yield of 342 q/ha. The gross harvest of potatoes today is more than 112 thousand tons with a yield of 290 centners per hectare, 63% of the area has been harvested.

At the same time, the Don fields are preparing the soil for sowing winter crops, and in the north of the Don, the autumn sowing campaign is underway. To date, the soil for winter crops has been prepared on an area of ​​almost 2.2 million hectares, that is, almost 80% of the plan. Almost 170 thousand hectares have already been sown with winter crops, which is about 6.5% of the plan.