Adverse weather likely to reduce pea production in Russia

12-Jul-2024 04:57 PM

Moscow. The weather conditions in the southern, central and Siberia regions of Russia, a country located in the Black Sea region, have been a cause of concern for farmers.

As a result, different proportions of pea production are being estimated in Russia this time. Some analysts are predicting pea production between 42 to 44 lakh tonnes this time, while other critics believe that the actual production may be less than 40 lakh tonnes. 

The interesting fact is that Russian farmers, encouraged by the opening of imports in India and regular demand in China, made a successful attempt to increase the sowing area of ​​peas this time, but the weather and rainfall conditions were not completely favorable for the crop.

It is worth mentioning that the Government of India had withdrawn all the conditions imposed on the import of yellow peas by making it duty free in the first week of December 2023.

The deadline for its duty-free import has currently been fixed till 31 October 2024, but it can be extended further as per requirement. 

Russia has an average annual domestic consumption of about 20 lakh tonnes of peas, which means that during the 2024-25 marketing season, there will be an exportable surplus stock of between 19 and 24 lakh tonnes of peas.

According to a report, more than 8 lakh tonnes of peas were exported from Russia to China during July-December 2023, while about 4 lakh tonnes of peas were also shipped to Spain during the same period.

Now the Council of the European Union has imposed a customs duty of 50 percent on the import of peas from Russia and Belarus in June 2024.

This will almost close the Spanish market for Russian peas, but the Indian market will be available as an alternative. The export value of Russian peas to China and India has decreased somewhat.