Russia's worst drought in more than a century cut the forecasted wheat harvest, impacting global bread supplies and food prices
The hulking green combine tractor clatters across a wheat field at the sprawling Maslovka farm, a typical autumn scene in Russia’s agricultural heartland.
This year however, the machine is not harvesting wheat but ploughing dead crops back into the cracked, sun-scorched earth, a symbol of a land hit by an unprecedented summer drought and savage forest fires.
“These are scary times,” says Karpa Osipova, 84, who lives on Lenin Street, a few blocks from the Maslovka farm.
“The prices of crops are slowly rising, and my pension isn't big enough,” says Osipova. “I don’t even know how I am going to be able to afford bread.”
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20100920/160654461.html
This year however, the machine is not harvesting wheat but ploughing dead crops back into the cracked, sun-scorched earth, a symbol of a land hit by an unprecedented summer drought and savage forest fires.
“These are scary times,” says Karpa Osipova, 84, who lives on Lenin Street, a few blocks from the Maslovka farm.
“The prices of crops are slowly rising, and my pension isn't big enough,” says Osipova. “I don’t even know how I am going to be able to afford bread.”
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20100920/160654461.html