Lentil sowing increased by more than 50 percent in Russia - but weather conditions are not favorable
01-Jul-2024 09:01 PM
Moscow. In Russia, a country located in the Black Sea region, the lentil sowing area increased by more than 50 percent to close to 3 lakh hectares during 2024 as compared to 2023, but due to unfavorable weather and rainfall conditions,
the possibility of a fall in the average yield rate is expected, and the total production is estimated to be between 3.00-3.50 lakh tonnes.
Harvesting and preparation of the new lentil crop is likely to begin in August. Green lentils will contribute 70 percent or about 2.50 percent of the total lentil production and the remaining contribution will be of red lentils.
There is limited but early cultivation of lentils in the Crimea province, which is mainly of the red category. The new crop has been harvested at some places there, but the yield rate is seen to be much below the average level. Its CNF indicative price for the Indian subcontinent and Middle East countries is being said to be 725-730 dollars per tonne.
It is worth mentioning that in Russia, an export duty of about 7 percent is levied on lentils based on the exchange rate of ruble against the US dollar. At present,
Russia practically does not have any exportable stock of lentils, so the offer price of green or red lentils is being considered only indicative. It is understood that the contract for export shipment of the entire surplus stock of lentils from Russia has already been done.
About 30 thousand tons of lentil production is being estimated in Ukraine, in which 18 thousand tons (60 percent) of green lentils and 12 thousand tons (40 percent) of red lentils are expected to contribute. Its price there can be around 740 dollars per tonne.
The weather conditions in the northern-central region of Kazakhstan are unfavorable, although it is considered an important producer of lentils. There, lentil production reached a peak of 3.13 lakh tons in 2017, but by 2023 it has fallen to 1.93 lakh tons.
There is a possibility of production of about 2 lakh tons of lentils during the current year, whereas earlier the production was estimated to be 2.50 lakh tons. The share of red lentils in the total production can be 1.50 lakh tons and the share of green lentils can be around 50 thousand tons.