Dry weather is threatening the 2016 grain harvests in Ukraine and Russia, both major Black Sea wheat exporters which are currently sowing winter crops, analysts and forecasters say. Officials expect the total area for winter grains to remain flat year-on-year at 7.4 million hectares in Ukraine and to rise 300,000 hectares to 17.1 million hectares in Russia.
Most of the seeds in Ukraine have been planted in dry land due to widespread drought across its central, eastern and southern regions and observers fear a lack of moisture could disrupt the 2016 wheat and barley harvest. "In southern and eastern regions where the rainless period has lasted for more than a month, critically unfavourable conditions for soil moisture replenishment were observed in fields for seeding winter crops," said analyst UkrAgroConsult.
"Failure to comply with sufficient sowing time period increases the probability that crops will enter the winter underdeveloped and weak." Ukrainian farmers have sown 1.9 million hectares of winter grains, or 26 percent of the intended area, according to agriculture ministry data, down from 2.0 million hectares at the same date last year.
"Farmers are continuing to sow despite the fact that 70 percent of Ukrainian fields are absolutely dry. They sow 'just in case'," said Tetyana Adamenko at Ukraine's state weather centre. Ukrainian weather forecasters say this August was the driest in 54 years and expect no rain before the end of September. Ukraine and Russia were both hit by bouts of dry weather last autumn, but a favourable spring climate during helped to improve yields.