Russia's potential to increase grain production by expanding area

Since 2000, Russia has substantially increased grain production and exports. The grain output growth has come from a rise in yields rather than area. After falling heavily during the 1990s, grain area stabilized during the 2000s and has remained flat, at about two-thirds the level of the late Soviet...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Eurasian geography and economics 2015-09, Vol.56 (5), p.505-523
Main Authors: Liefert, William M., Liefert, Olga
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
area expansion
grain
grain trade
Russia
Russian agriculture
transition
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Since 2000, Russia has substantially increased grain production and exports. The grain output growth has come from a rise in yields rather than area. After falling heavily during the 1990s, grain area stabilized during the 2000s and has remained flat, at about two-thirds the level of the late Soviet period. Using data on the regional structure of Russian grain production costs, this article examines the country's potential to increase grain output further by returning the lost grain area to production. The analysis finds that if grain area were to grow beyond a certain level, one that is still well below the level of the late Soviet period, production costs would rise steeply. Therefore, any major expansion in grain area would require that world grain prices rise considerably beyond their level in the early 2010s to cover the high marginal costs of production.
ISSN:1538-7216
1938-2863
DOI:10.1080/15387216.2015.1101353