Ukraine grain harvest 93% complete - ministry
49.5 mln T harvested
7 January 2023
2 minute read
By: Ukrainian farms had harvested 49.5 million tonnes of grain from 93% of the expected area as of Jan. 6, Reuters reported, citing the agriculture ministry on Friday.
The ministry said in a statement farmers had harvested 10.7 million hectares of crops, with the grain yield averaging 4.64 tonnes per hectare.
It said farmers had completed the 2022 wheat and barley harvests, threshing 20.2 million and 5.8 million tonnes respectively.
The total volume also included 22.1 million tonnes of corn, harvested from 81% of the expected area with a yield of 6.48 tonnes per hectare.
In 2021, Ukraine harvested 32.2 million tonnes of wheat and 9.4 million tonnes of barley. The ministry has said a fall in output in 2022 was caused by hostilities in the country's eastern, northern and southern regions.
Ukraine sowed more than 6 million hectares of winter wheat for the 2022 harvest, but a large area was occupied after Russia's invasion and only 4.9 million hectares were harvested in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
The ministry said farmers also harvested 10.5 million tonnes of sunflower seeds from 99% of the planted area, and 9 million tonnes of sugar beet from 99% of the area.
The government has said Ukraine could harvest around 51 million tonnes of grain this year, down from a record 86 million tonnes in 2021, because of the loss of land to Russian forces and lower yields.
