Ukraine's agrarian ministry issues updated forecast for 2017 grain harvest

"The Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry has reviewed its previous forecast for the harvest, projecting 62 million tonnes as of October 25 after maize was gathered from an area of 2.5 million hectares, which accounted for 55% [of areas under crops]... The yield is the second largest in Ukraine's modern history after last year's bumper crop," the press service said in a statement.

The Ukrainian agrarians threshed 49.8 million tonnes of grain and leguminous crops from 12.5 million hectares (85% of the target) as of October 25, with a yield of 3.99 tonnes per hectare (4.26 tonnes per hectare in 2016).

In particular, 11.7 million tonnes of maize was threshed from 2.5 million hectares (55%) with a yield of 4.74 tonnes per hectare against 5.83 tonnes per hectare a year ago. As reported, the maize yields decreased in comparison with the previous year due to a shortage of precipitation during the vegetation period, primarily in Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Mykolayiv, and Odesa regions.

Read alsoUkraine boosts revenues from agricultural exports to over $13 bln"Maize and wheat account for 80% of the gross yield, so this indicator was decisive for the aggregate forecast [for the grain harvest]. So, although the result was less than last year, it turned out to be better than previous expectations, primarily because the impact of weather conditions was uneven," the press service quoted First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Maksym Martyniuk as saying.

Ukrainian farmers harvested 10.8 million tonnes of sunflower seeds from 5.5 million hectares (93%) and 3 million tonnes of soybeans from 1.6 million hectares (81%).

As UNIAN reported, earlier, the agrarian ministry projected the grain harvest at 60.2-63 million tonnes in 2017, depending on the weather conditions.

According to Martyniuk, the gross harvest of grain crops and vegetables in Ukraine in 2017 will fully meet domestic demand, thus prices of most food products will be stable.

During the spring sowing campaign, the agrarians sowed spring grain and leguminous crops on 7.17 million hectares. A total of 14.3 million hectares was sown by grain crops (including 7.15 million hectares by winter crops). Total areas under crops for the harvest of 2017 are estimated at 26.9 million hectares, which is 152,000 hectares more than in 2016.

Ukraine harvested 65.95 million tonnes of grain and leguminous crops in 2016, which was 9.7% up from 2015, and a record high over the country's independence.