Photo from UNIAN
Total areas covered with yielding plants in Russian-annexed Crimea shrank by 85.1% from 2014 to 2017, while areas under winter crops were reduced by 85%, according to Ukraine's Ministry for Temporarily Occupied Territory and Internally Displaced Persons.
"Based on satellite data, a gradual decrease in the area covered by 'healthy' yielding vegetation was recorded in Crimea. However, weather conditions on the peninsula were satisfactory and could not affect the plants," the ministry said.
The ministry notes that in general Crimea's agro-industrial sector and environment are being subject to destructive processes caused by the occupation of the peninsula by the Russian Federation.
In particular, RFE/RL's Krym-Realii media project cited a report by the Kremlin-controlled agriculture ministry of the annexed peninsula saying that local farmers had harvested 1.5 million tonnes of grain as of July 27, 2017, and threshed early grain crops from 480,016 hectares, accounting for 88.2% of the total areas under crops.
Read alsoUkraine harvests 10 mln tonnes of grain as of July 18Some 1.448 million tonnes of early grain had been threshed by August 2016, which was 104,700 tonnes up from 2015.
In 2011, when the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was under control of Ukraine, the peninsula harvested 1.8 million tonnes of early grain crops.