The outlook is for the 1998 grain harvest to be somewhat less than last year. Latest indications are that spring grain plantings could remain at last year’s level of about 5.2 million hectares in the state sector but the harvested winter grain area is likely to be 10 percent less than last year. Growing conditions have been somewhat mixed but satisfactory overall. Better availability of fertilizers could help to stabilize yields. The 1998 grain harvest could be less than FAO’s estimate of the 1997 harvest (37 million tonnes). The area sown to sunflowers has increased and that planted to sugarbeet has fallen sharply.