Frost, drought in April were negative for Ukraine’s spring crops, forecasters

KYIV: Strong and prolonged frosts followed by unusually high temperatures and a lack of precipitation in April all had a negative impact on the development of Ukrainian spring crops, state forecasters said on Monday.

Frosts in early April covered most of Ukraine and temperatures dropped to minus 11 degrees Celsius (12.2 degrees Fahrenheit) for up to 7 hours, APK-Inform agriculture consultancy quoted forecasters as saying.

“Dry weather with low relative air humidity for spring and frosts were also unfavourable for the initial development of early spring crops,” forecasters said.

Ukrainian farmers are sowing spring crops and the future harvest depends to a significant extent on plants having enough heat and moisture for germination and further growth.

Forecasters said last month that weather conditions in mid-April were mostly favourable for the development of winter and spring grains in most of Ukraine.

They said that during April, the deficit of precipitation continued in most regions, with the monthly amount only reaching or exceeding the norm in pockets of the north, south, west and east of the country. Ukraine has often suffered from a lack of soil moisture in recent years, particularly in May and June.