Farmers in southern Ukrainian regions have started the 2011 grain harvest, threshing the first 35,000 tonnes of grain, Farm Minister Mykola Prysyazhnyk said on Monday. "We had some worries but recent rains improved the situation," Prysuazhnyuk told a news conference. Ukraine usually starts harvesting in late June-early July.
"This week farmers are going to begin the harvesting of winter barley in the southern regions. Next week - wheat and rapeseed," analyst UkrAgroConsult said in a report. "Rains improved the condition of wheat in most of the regions but the information on crop condition is rather contradictory. There is information that in some regions wheat began drying and rains were late."
A senior agriculture official told Reuters on Monday that the ministry had increased its 2011 grain harvest forecast to about 50 million tonnes from the previous outlook of "over 45 million." Analysts forecast the crop at about 45 million tonnes. Ukraine, which consumes about 26 million tonnes of grain per season, harvested 39.2 million tonnes in 2010.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.