UNIAN
Ukraine’s harvest of grain and leguminous crops in 2015 may decline by 10% compared to 2014 to 57.4 million tonnes, due to lower yields, according to a forecast announced by Rodion Rybczynski, the head of business projects service of APK-Inform information agency.
According to Rybczynski, the reduction of the gross grain harvest in Ukraine in 2015 was attributed to a decrease in the expected yield.
"A decrease in yields is expected for almost all crops. The average yield of grain and leguminous crops is projected by us at 39.7 tonnes per hectare, which is 9% lower than in the previous year," the expert said.
This year’s downward estimate of the harvest in Ukraine is also due to the expectation that Ukrainian farmers will try to make savings on resources, Rybczynski said.
"We carried out surveys in autumn during sowing, winter and early spring. More than 80% of agricultural producers said they had to economize, especially on fertilizers," Rybczynski said, adding that the amount of fertilizer application would directly impact crop yields.