Light rains bring no relief: Southern Ukraine hit by severe drought

The drought affecting Ukraine’s southern regions has reached severe levels, with light rainfall at the end of June proving insufficient to improve conditions. This is according to the latest agrometeorological bulletin from the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center.

The situation is particularly critical in Kherson region.

"Low precipitation during the third ten-day period of June, observed amid an already severe soil drought, did not alleviate the situation. Moderate to strong winds throughout the month further dried out the topsoil, and episodes of dry wind were recorded," the report said.

In the central, eastern, northeastern, and parts of the northern regions, soil moisture reserves under early grain crops have either been completely depleted or have fallen to critical levels. However, according to the Hydrometeorological Center, the impact on yields will likely be minimal as early grain crops had already formed their harvest potential by that time.

In contrast, moisture levels under late-season crops—including corn, sunflower, and soybeans—declined sharply in June.

In many areas of Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Poltava regions, moisture reserves were two to three times below the long-term average. This has led to visible crop stress, such as daytime wilting, yellowing, and leaf curling of the lower canopy.

Where soil moisture levels were near average and temperatures remained moderate, crop conditions remained stable with no major deterioration observed.

In the western regions, favorable weather supported healthy crop development.

As of June 30, most fields in the western and northern regions were in the milky ripeness stage (plants remain green and grains exude a milky fluid when pressed). In contrast, in the southern, eastern, and central regions, winter crops had reached the waxy or full ripeness stages.

• On June 3, Agrarian Policy Minister Vitaliy Koval issued a pessimistic outlook for Ukraine’s 2025 grain harvest. Under the worst-case scenario, output could fall by 10%, from 56.7 million tons in 2024 to around 51 million tons in 2025.