Ukraine could increase the harvest of winter crops by 20-30% this year compared to 2012, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said.
“That’s our target for the harvest, and we have to do our utmost to
hit it,” the premier said at a meeting of the government on Wednesday.
He said that conditions for the growth of winter crops in autumn 2012 were much better than last year.
Azarov also noted that, according to the latest update, 96% of the winter crops had sprouted as of the beginning of January.
“We have three times less weaker crops compared to 2011. This is a
quite good figure, giving us hope for a good harvest,” the premier said.
According to the State Statistics Service, Ukraine sowed winter crops
for grain and green fodder, including rapeseeds, on 9.2 million
hectares for the 2013 harvest, which is 2.5% less than areas sown with
winter crops for the 2012 harvest.
Areas under winter crops in 2012 were 8.1 million hectares, which is
3.5% down year-on-year. In particular, areas under winter wheat
decreased by 0.2%, to 6.7 million hectares, those under rye – by 4.3%,
to 300,000 hectares, and barley – by 19.5%, to 1.1 million hectares.
At the same time, according to the service, rapeseeds for the 2013
harvest were sown on 1.03 million hectares, which is 7.2% up on the
previous year.
