Russia's exports of grain, beans and peas were 17.9 million tons from the start of the marketing season on July 1 to the end of 2011, the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies said.

Grain shipments exceeded 17.5 million tons, including 14.5 million tons of wheat, more than 2 million tons of barley and 700,000 tons of corn. Exports of legumes exceeded 390,000 tons, the institute, known as Ikar, said on its web site.

Exports will be "significantly less" in the second half of the season that ends on June 30 and will probably total no more than 24.5 million tons in the whole period. Russian farmers harvested an estimated 94 million tons of grain in the 2011-12 season, Ikar said.

Russia's rice harvest was 1.05 million tons, of which it may export up to 160,000 tons, according to Ikar. The crop of buckwheat rose to 800,000 tons, covering domestic consumption of about 700,000 tons, the researcher said.

The oilseeds crop will exceed 12 million tons for the first time, including 9.6 million tons of sunflower seeds, almost 1.7 million tons of soybeans, 1.05 million tons of rapeseeds and more than 350,000 tons of flax seeds, Ikar said. That will allow Russia to export about 350,000 tons of sunflower seeds and produce 1.2 million tons of sunflower oil, the institute said.