Ukraine expects the area sown in spring 2024 to be the same as last year, although there could be a slight reduction in the worst-case scenario, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky told Reuters on Friday.
Ukraine is a major global producer of grains and oilseeds, but its harvests have declined since Russia invaded and occupied a significant part of the territory. The war, now in its 24th month with no end in sight, has driven up global grain prices and disrupted supplies, especially to poorer countries.
“I don’t expect drastic changes in terms of planting area. If the seeded area is smaller, it will be a very insignificant reduction,” Solsky said in an interview, providing the first official outlook for the 2024 season.
Ukrainian farmers have sown a total of 12.75 million hectares of spring crops for the 2023 harvest, including 5.7 million hectares of various grains.
The cultivated area included 4 million hectares of corn, 5.3 million hectares of sunflower and 1.78 million hectares of soybeans.
Agricultural challenges in Ukraine: Reduction of wheat area and search for alternative crops
Solsky reported that poor weather has caused farmers to reduce winter wheat seeding, possibly increasing acreage under spring wheat. Ukraine sowed 280,000 hectares of spring wheat last year.
Ukraine has sown 4.2 million hectares of winter wheat for the 2024 harvest, up from around 4.4 the previous year.
“There will definitely be no increase in the total area. I admit its reduction, and the question that immediately arises is: what to sow then? We only have three options: sunflower, soybeans and corn”, said the minister.
War has led farmers to skimp on lower-quality wheat seeds due to shortages of funds and problems with exports, Solsky said.
He said winter wheat has survived the winter so far without serious damage, but the quality of the future harvest is unclear.
Source: Pavel Polityuk | Notícias Agrícolas
