Penza, 24 July 2014. PenzaNews. Camelina harvesting on 5,700 hectares in the Penza region is considered inexpedient due to extremely low yields, said Andrei Burlakov, the Minister of Agriculture of the region, during the meeting in the regional government on Thursday, July 24.

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“Currently, winter camelina has been harvested on almost 30 thousand hectares. Due to adverse weather conditions, 5,700 hectares will be written off due to extremely low yields. In general, camelina yield amounted to eight quintals per hectare, which is caused primarily by adverse weather factors,” Andrei Burlakov said.

After hearing the report, Alexei Kostin, the Minister of Investment Development and Business of the Penza region, asked whether camelina project is profitable at all, since the yield is almost three times lower than that of wheat.

In response, Andrei Burlakov noted that sowing only highly profitable crops will sooner or later lead to a crash.

“Camelina is a good precursor for winter crops and can participate in the system of crop rotation. In addition, so far it does not require chemical plant protection, which reduces the cost of production,” the Minister of Agriculture of the region said.