Based on the forecasts of analysts of the agro-industrial complex of the Russian Federation, this year the total sunflower crop in the country may significantly decrease.

We are talking about lowering the indicators to eleven and a half million tons, which is almost nine percent lower than the previous crop in 2018 and, in fact, is similar to the indicators of three years ago.

According to experts, the reasons for the decline in the yield may be both the potentially low sales rate of sunflower raw materials in the coming season, and the fact that domestic farmers every year prefer to grow soy and rapeseed.

We add that both rapeseed and soy are a highly liquid alternative to sunflower, and that is why workers in the Russian oilseed sector are increasing the area under sowing of these crops.

In addition, in recent years, sunflower raw materials have demonstrated a low attractiveness of the pricing environment in the oil industry.

Judging by preliminary estimates by experts, the area on which Russians grow sunflower may fall by almost three percent compared to the previous year, when the territory of sunflower fields amounted to almost eight million hectares.