Ukraine expects 7m tonnes increase in harvest this year
The Ukrainian agriculture ministry expects that 79 million tonnes of crops will be harvested this year, which is 15 million tonnes more than planned during the sowing season and at least 7 million tonnes more than in 2022.
- Subscribe to LIGA.net in English on Twitter
Speaking on national television, Ukrainian agriculture minister Mykola Solskyi said that Ukraine had already harvested more winter wheat, winter rapeseed, sunflower and soybean than had been expected.
"Corn harvesting is already underway, and this is a huge amount of corn that we have traditionally exported," Mr Solskyi added.
"In May, at the beginning of the sowing season, we thought we would have about 63-64 million tonnes, then we raised the forecast to 67-68 tonnes, then more than 70 tonnes. Last year, we had a result of 72 million tonnes, then 75 million tonnes.
"In the last two weeks, we have been talking about the harvest probably around 79 million tonnes, which is at least 7 million more than last year."
The official said that Ukrainian farmers are no longer concerned about yields and output, but rather about the price at which they can sell their produce. Ukraine needs to be able to export five million tonnes of grain per month, whereas the figure now stands at just over three million tonnes.
"When there is such a significant difference, logistics is always expensive and grain is always inexpensive, because there is much more demand for logistics than supply," Mr Solskyi concluded.
