Ukraine grain harvest 97% complete
53.7 mln T has been harvested, ministry says
11 February 2023
2 minute read
By: Ukrainian farms harvested 53.7 million tonnes of grain in bunker weight from 97% of the expected area, Reuters reported, citing the agriculture ministry on Friday.
The ministry said that as of Thursday, farmers had harvested 11.2 million hectares of crops, with the grain yield averaging 4.79 tonnes per hectare. Farmers harvested 100,000 hectares over the past seven days, data showed.
The ministry said farmers had completed the 2022 wheat and barley harvests, threshing 20.2 million tonnes of wheat and 5.8 million tonnes of barley.
The total volume included 26.4 million tonnes of corn, harvested from 93% of the expected area, with a yield of 6.7 tonnes per hectare.
In 2021, Ukraine harvested 32.2 million tonnes of wheat and 9.4 million tonnes of barley.
The ministry has said that a fall in output in 2022 was caused by hostilities in the country's eastern, northern and southern regions, after Russia's invasion nearly a year ago.
Ukraine sowed more than 6 million hectares of winter wheat for the 2022 harvest, but a large area was occupied after the invasion and only 4.9 million hectares were harvested in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
The ministry said that farmers also harvested 10.5 million tonnes of sunflower seeds from 99% of the planted area and 9.1 million tonnes of sugar beet from 100% of the area.
The government has said Ukraine's 2022 crop could total about 51 million tonnes in clean weight, down from a record 86 million tonnes in 2021, because of the loss of land to Russian forces and lower yields.
Bunker weight is 5% to 7% higher than clean weight as grains should be dried and cleaned.
The economy ministry this week said the grain harvest may fall again in 2023, to 49.5 million tonnes, while analysts expect the crop could fall to 35 million to 40 million tonnes.
