In the Krasnodar Territory and the Crimea, as well as in the Kaluga, Bryansk, Oryol, Smolensk, Lipetsk, Kursk, Belgorod and Astrakhan regions, drought can greatly spoil the future crop, reports TASS the statement of the head of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia Roman Vilfand.
Low rainfall in the central regions of Russia, from 35 to 58 percent of the norm, led to soil drought. For the growing season of plants, both winter and spring, moisture in the topsoil is critical. “This is an alarming factor,” the specialist put it that way.
The moisture deficit is especially noticeable in the Southern Federal District, which is already deprived of rain due to its geographical location. According to the Hydrometeorological Center, in April 5 millimeters of precipitation fell in the Astrakhan region, that is, 26 percent of the norm, in the Krasnodar Territory - only 42 percent of the norm, in the Crimea - a quarter.
However, not everything is lost, meteorologists emphasize: May is the month when it becomes clear what will happen to the harvest. So the situation can still get better.
Meanwhile
Meteorologists around the world are at a loss from the surprise that the coronavirus presented them: the planes used as mobile weather stations, covering all the corners of the planet, almost stopped flying. Experts do not get enough data and cannot give any plausible forecasts even in the near future. In just a couple of weeks, the number of meteorological observations from airplanes dropped by about 75-80 percent, and in some regions, such as Africa and the Southern Hemisphere, to 90 percent.