MOSCOW, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Russia has set its fertiliser export quota at 11.8 million tonnes for January-May to ensure enough supply of crop and soil nutrients to farmers at home, the government said in a statement on Wednesday.

Moscow imposed quotas on fertiliser exports last year after the price of gas - which is used to produce nitrogen fertilisers - went up.

Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter, and a major producer of potash, phosphate and nitrogen-containing fertilisers. It produces more than 50 million tonnes a year of them, or 13% of the global total.

It exported more than 25 million tonnes of fertilisers in the first 11 months of 2022, according to President Vladimir Putin. (Reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Mark Potter)