News
28.08.2012
Ukraine starts 2012 maize harvest with a low yield
Grain Ukraine. Ukraine harvested to August 27 25.48 million metric tons of grain on 9.9 million hectares with the average yield of 2.57 tons per hectare, the Agriculture Ministry reported on Monday.
Ukraine has already finished its wheat and barley harvests, which totalled 16.3 million tons and 7.2 million respectively (in bunker weight). In 2011 Ukraine harvested 22.3 million tonnes of wheat and 9.1 million of barley (clean weight).
Ukraine, a leading European maize producer and exporter, has started the 2012 maize harvest, gathering the first 42,000 tons of the commodity with a low yield, the ministry said.
Farms had threshed 15,000 hectares of maize and the yield totalled 2.78 tons per hectare compared with 4.0 tons at the same date in 2011.
Farms plan to harvest 4.57 million hectares of maize in 2012 against 3.54 million in 2011.
Ukraine harvested a record 22.7 million tonnes of maize last year and had planned to harvest at least 25 million this year. But hot weather this summer is likely to reduce the output to about 20 million tonnes.
Ukraine harvested 56.7 million tonnes of grain in 2011
