Tatarstan relies on soy, sunflower, and flax amid falling grain prices
Due to a rainy harvest season, the republic has fallen short by 300,000 tonnes of grain and suffered a decline in quality
“We have lost the grain quality class,” acknowledged Tatarstan’s Minister of Agriculture Marat Zyabbarov, commenting on this year’s rain-soaked harvest campaign. Because of adverse weather conditions, the republic produced around 300,000 tonnes less grain than planned. In response to falling grain prices, Tatarstan is reducing its grain acreage in favour of crops such as soybeans, sunflowers, and oil flax. Read more in the Realnoe Vremya report.
“We’ve lost grain quality — from third class we’ve dropped to fourth and fifth”
Amid falling grain prices, Tatarstan is shifting its focus toward more profitable crops such as soybeans, sunflowers, and oil flax, Minister of Agriculture of the Republic Marat Zyabbarov announced. “These crops have demonstrated good potential, and their prices are far more attractive,” he emphasised.
“In the past year, we recalculated the republic’s grain requirements — they now stand at around 2.5 million tonnes, compared to 3.2 million previously,” the minister said. This year, oilseed crops are expected to generate over 2 billion rubles in additional profit. At the same time, Zyabbarov noted that it is impossible to abandon grain cultivation entirely.
According to preliminary data, Tatarstan’s granaries have received nearly 4.7 million tonnes of key grain crops. The largest harvest volumes were recorded in the Buinsky, Tetyushsky, and Arsky districts, while the highest yields were achieved in the Tetyushsky, Kukmorsky, and Atninsky districts.
However, this year’s harvest campaign was hampered by heavy rains. As a result, the republic fell short by around 300,000 tonnes, Zyabbarov said.
“We also faced heavy rains during the previous harvest season. There’s no damage as such, but there is a shortfall. [...] We’ve lost the grain quality class. We’ve invested heavily in fertilisers and other inputs to produce third-class grain — but we lost that quality, dropping from third to fourth and fifth class,” he lamented.
This year, Tatarstan plans to harvest over 900,000 tonnes of oilseed crops — a record volume for the republic. The sugar beet harvest is expected to reach 2.3 million tonnes. The sowing of winter crops has been completed on an area of 491,300 hectares (the plan was 500,000, but the rains interfered).
“We’ve also finished harvesting rapeseed — 320,000 tonnes were threshed, with decent yields. For the past two years, we’ve been cultivating winter rapeseed — a real breakthrough for us. We’re continuing this work,” Zyabbarov assured.
The republic exported $3.6 million worth of grain
“Grain prices, naturally, are low due to the current situation. Prices for rapeseed, sunflower, and soybeans are relatively high, and we expect further growth,” Zyabbarov said.
Since the beginning of the year, Tatarstan has exported 15,000 tonnes of new grain. “That’s only direct exports processed through Tatarstan’s customs. But there are major trading companies that buy grain and sell it through regions where they are registered,” he added.
According to a presentation shown at the briefing, total grain exports amounted to $3.6 million. Tatarstan’s grain is in demand in the Middle East, Iran, China, India, the Customs Union countries, the Caucasus, and Asia.
Soil preparation for the new harvest is currently underway, with work already completed on 1,300 hectares — 84% of the planned area.
This year, the total value of Tatarstan’s agricultural output is estimated at over 357 billion rubles, representing an increase of at least 2% compared to 2024. The planned target was more modest — 101.8%. Last year’s growth exceeded 10%, a surge driven by the drought of 2023, Zyabbarov noted.