MOSCOW (AP) - Russia will begin selling grain to its struggling meat and dairy producers after a severe drought killed at least one-fifth of grain crops across the country, the Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday.

The market interventions, totaling at least 3 million tons of grain, are aimed at containing food prices, Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik said.

Russia — the world's third-largest wheat exporter — has suffered its worst drought in 130 years, according to officials. So far, the drought has destroyed 20 percent of the grain sown in central Russia and the Ural mountains, affecting more than 9.6 million hectares (24 million acres) of land and spurring an early harvest.