The precipitation that fell in December and January exceeded the quantity typical of this period three times and soil moisture reached very high levels. “When precipitation fell the temperatures were positive and the soil gradually absorbed all the water. As a result, the dryness caused by last summer’s drought disappeared. In the period of autumn sowing, soil moisture in some regions was only 20 millimeters,” the head of the Agrometeorological Monitoring Center Tatiana Mironova has told Info-Prim Neo. According to the specialist, the water reserves in soil will be sufficient for performing spring works and there are great hopes that this amount of precipitation will be enough for the first part of spring. This is also beneficial for the autumn crops. Mihail Suvac, head of the Agriculture Ministry’s Market Policies Division, said the farmers hope the harvest this year will be large, especially because such good weather conditions haven’t been recorded since 1960. The amount of precipitation in December and January was 126- 205 millimeters.