DUSHANBE, February 9, 2009, Asia-Plus — In 2008, the lowest grain production indices were reported in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Armenia, the CIS Interstate Committee for Statistics said.
In Tajikistan, grain production fell 13 percent to 800,000 tons last year. In Kazakhstan, grain production fell 23 percent compared to 2007 and amounted to 15.6 million tons last year. In Armenia, grain production last year fell 8 percent to 400,000 tons.
The highest grain production growth rate last year was reported in Moldova, where the grain production rose 3.5 times last year, reaching 3.2 million tons. In Ukraine, grain harvests rose 82 percent compared to 2007, reaching 53.3 million in 2008. In Russia, the grain production rose 33 percent last year, reaching 108.1 million tons.
Last year, high grain production rates were also reported in Belarus which harvested 9 million tons of grain last year, 25-percent increase compared to 2007, and Azerbaijan, where grain production rose 25 percent, reaching 2.4 million tons in 2008. In Kyrgyzstan, grain production last year rose 1 percent, reaching 1.5 tons.
In the meantime, according to figures provided by Tajik Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Tajikistan produced 954,000 tons fog rains last year. The country’s annual requirements in wheat are 1.26 million tons.
