Yalta - Ukraine will harvest 47 million tonnes of grain in 2012, despite the summer drought, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said.
“We will harvest about 47 million tonnes,” Azarov said at the 9th Yalta Annual Meeting on Friday.
The premier noted that, while weather conditions were quite
unfavorable this summer, the harvest will not drop significantly from
2011 due to the government’s policy, unlike the situation during the
2003 drought, when Ukraine harvested only 23 million tonnes.
Moreover, this government policy will enable Ukraine to increase its
annual grain harvest to 100 million tonnes within the next several
years, Azarov said. “And then Ukraine will become a major player on the
market,” he said.
The Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry reported earlier that, as of
September 14, Ukraine had threshed 27.63 million tonnes of grain from
10.57 million hectares, which is 70% of all land under crops in the
country.
The ministry had earlier forecast the 2012 grain harvest to reach 46
million to 46.5 million tonnes, compared to a record 56.7 million tonnes
in 2011.
Experts estimate Ukraine’s own annual demand for grain at 28.7 million tonnes.
