VEB predicted a decrease in agricultural production in Russia in 2026

At the end of 2026, the total volume of agricultural production in Russia will decrease by 0.6 percent compared to the figure for 2025. Interfax reports this with reference to the forecast of the VEB Institute of Research and Expertise.

The dynamics, noted the head of the Agricultural Economics department, Lidia Ilyushina, will be affected by the expected decrease in grain harvests. The situation will also be affected by a fall in the output of poultry and cattle meat, she explained.

Harvests of grain and leguminous crops this year, according to analysts' expectations, will fall by 4.2 million tons - from 141.2 million to 137 million tons. As for the production of poultry and livestock meat, its volume will be reduced by 100 thousand tons - 16.9 million to 16.8 million tons, Ilyushina concluded.

By mid-September, noted the head of the Ministry of Agriculture Oksana Lut, Russian farmers had collected a total of 120 million tons of grain. The overwhelming majority of the harvest was wheat - more than 90 million tons, she said.

This year, the head of the Institute of Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR) Dmitry Rylko pointed out that the volume of grain harvests will be affected, among other things, by a reduction in sown areas.