Russia plans to continue setting quotas for fertiliser exports during the next winter grain sowing, due this autumn, and during the next spring grain sowing in spring 2023, an official said on Tuesday.

Russia is a major producer of fertilisers - key crop and soil nutrients. In November, Moscow decided to limit exports of nitrogen fertilisers and complex nitrogen-containing fertilisers with quotas for 1 December-31 May to help curb any further increase in food prices amid higher gas prices, reported Reuters.

"In addition to (availability of) seeds, the key to the success of the sowing campaign is the availability of mineral fertilisers. In the right quantities and at affordable prices," Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko said on social media.

Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter, it competes mainly with the European Union and Ukraine in this market.

President Vladimir Putin said earlier on Tuesday that Russia must keep a close eye on its food exports to hostile countries because the West's sanctions had fomented a global food crisis and spiralling energy prices.