Russian agricultural output down 10 pct due to summer drought

Russia's agricultural output has slashed by 10.7 percent over the first nine months of 2010 year on year, due to the abnormal summer heat and drought, said Federal Statistics Service.

Total agricultural output reached 1.7 trillion rubles (55.8 billion U.S. dollars) during the period. In September alone, the figure was 463. 6 billion rubles (15.2 billion dollars), also tumbling down 24.8 percent year on year, it said in a report issued on Tuesday.

Severely affected by the unprecedented summer heat and drought, outputs of Russia's major agricultural products meanwhile shrank significantly.

As of Oct. 1, the national output of potatoes and vegetables of Russia dived 34.2 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively.

During the same period, the grain harvest across the country amounted to 59 million tons, down 34.3 percent year-on-year.

The Agriculture Ministry previously estimated this year's total grain harvest at 60-65 million tons. Last year the figure was 97 million tons.

Source: Xinhua