Mongolia: Harsh winter puts harvests under pressure | Ubpost News: "The Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Light Industry warned delegates from 21 aimags (provinces) during a video conference in November that 80% of Mongolia’s territory was covered with snow, saying: “This winter seems already to be harsh and the provinces might suffer from winter drought”. It also cautioned that seven provinces were unable to provide sufficient pasture grass for feeding livestock.
The season, which typically lasts from mid-October until mid-May, can send temperatures plummeting to -30 degrees centigrade, with some farmers known to have lost up to 70% of their livestock in 2009 and 2010 due to dzuds.
Prospects of a harsh winter are likely to increase pressure on the short harvest season, and the ministry has put a number of narrowly missed targets for key crops down to frost in its October yield estimates. Cereals and wheat both fell short of their targets, albeit by just 10,000 tonnes, although the potato harvest of 232,000 tonnes exceeded its 209,000-tonne goal. Preliminary results suggest the country also notched up 100% self-sufficiency in wheat crops this year, while achieving 52% in “other major food items”."
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