Farmers thresh 37.6 mln tonnes of grain, legumes of new harvest

Ukrainian agrarians threshed 37.6 million tonnes of grain and legume crops of the 2020 harvest as of September 24, the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade, and Agriculture reports.

"In total, almost 48 million tonnes of major crops was collected as of that date [September 24] from an area of 15.5 million hectares [ha], of which 37.6 million tonnes of grain and legumes was threshed from an area of 10.3 million ha (67% of the target)," the ministry said in a statement on September 25.

In particular, 182,000 tonnes of millet was threshed from an area of 102,000 ha (68% of the target), 72,200 tonnes of buckwheat from 56,000 ha (71%), 6.8 million tonnes of sunflower seeds from 3.6 million ha (56%), 2.2 million tonnes of maize from 486,000 ha (9%), and 969,000 tonnes of soybeans from 485,000 ha (36%).

Read alsoZelensky urges government to focus on issues of domestic winemakersUkrainian farmers also started harvesting sugar beet, which output totaled 242,000 tonnes from 5,000 ha (2% of the target).

Moreover, the agrarians have completed harvesting such crops as wheat, barley, peas, and rapeseed, the report said.

Ukraine crops: Latest

As of September 1, 2020, the country's wheat harvest was estimated at 25.1 million tonnes, which was 12.4% down from the figure reported as of September 1, 2019. The barley crop shrank by 14%, to 7.77 million tonnes, that of peas declined by 16%, to 489,000 tonnes, while rapeseed crop dropped by 8.5%, to 2.57 million tons, according to the State Statistics Service.

The Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade, and Agriculture has again revised downward its forecast for the yield of grain and legumes in Ukraine, from 70 million tonnes to 68 million tonnes, over maize harvest losses, while the projection for oilseeds has remained unchanged, that is 20 million tonnes.