Yield of crop production in Ukraine may almost halve in 2017 – experts

The production of hops, berries, grapes, and rapeseed will be the most profitable, while oats and buckwheat will be in the lead in terms of profitability among cereals, it said.

The profitability of cereals output will almost halve against 2016, to 20.8%. The yield of buckwheat production is expected to shrink from 87.5% in 2016 to 42.9%.

In addition, the profitability of sorgo output will fall by almost 50% against 2016, to 12.9%, while that of millet will drop by 66.7%, to 11.3%. At the same time, the profitability of peas production, which reached a record 76.8% last year, will decrease most. In 2017, it will decline by 86.7%, to 10.3%.

Experts forecast that the profitability of corn production for grain may decrease by 81.8% to 8.3% against 45.7% in 2016.

At the same time, the output of oats production in 2017 is expected to grow to 51% from 34.4% recorded last year. The profitability of rice will also increase against last year's figure by 1.2 times, to 40.7%.

The profitability of barley output will soar by almost 1.6 times, up to 39.5%, while that of wheat production will rise from 31.7% in 2016, to 34.2%, and profitability of rye from 24.6%, to 30.8%.

Read alsoUkrAgroConsult: Ukraine's July rapeseed exports hit a three-year highRapeseed crops will continue demonstrating an increase in profitability among oilseeds crops. According to scientists' forecasts, this indicator will grow to 58.8% from 44.9% in 2016. Meanwhile, the profitability of sunflower seeds and soybeans output in 2017 will halve from last year, to 30.8% and 25.4%, respectively.

Furthermore, the profitability of sugar beet production will decrease by almost 75% against last year's result, to 6.1%, whereas the profitability of potatoes production of which was unprofitable in 2016 (-3.2%) will soar to 35.2%.

The profitability of open ground vegetables production will drop to 7.4% this year from 19.7% in 2016. At the same time, the production of vegetables grown under cover will increase to 10.9% against 7.7% a year ago.

What is more, the profitability of growing melon crops will rise to 36.2% in 2017 from 17.1% in 2016, while that of fruit production will decrease by almost 76.8%, to 2.8%. The profitability of berries may drop to 70.5% from 104% in 2016.

The yield of grapes production will fall from 74.6% in 2016 to 51.2%, while hop profitability is projected at 83% against 100.4% in 2016.

At the same time, despite the reduction in the profitability of most crops, the production of all their types will be cost-effective.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the profitability of farm production in Ukraine in 2016 accounted for 37.3% against 45.6% in 2015. Thus, the profitability of crops production in 2016 shrank from 50.6% in 2015 to 44.3%, whereas the profitability of livestock production fell from 22.1% to 7.7%, according to the State Statistics Service.

Agricultural production in Ukraine grew by 6.1% in 2016 against 2015. In particular, agricultural enterprises boosted output by 9.8% in 2016 from 2015, while private farmers' output rose by 1.5%, the service said.