Grain yield in Ukraine may shrink by 2.4% in 2019 – Yuriy Lupenko

Director of the National Scientific Center "Institute of Agrarian Economics" Yuriy Lupenko predicts the yield of grain in Ukraine in 2019 may shrink by 2.4% from 2018, to 68.4 million tonnes.

"The grain harvest in Ukraine in 2019 may fall by about 2.4-3%, to 68.4 million tonnes," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on May 6. The harvest of spring grain in the current year may also decline by 9-10%, mainly due to a decrease in the yield of maize, the expert added.

Ukraine is expected to harvest 31.6 million tonnes of maize in 2019, which is almost 12% down from the last year's yield. At the same time, the harvest of winter crops in 2019 may rise by 9% against 2018 due to the winter wheat yield, expected at 26.2 million tonnes, the expert said.

As UNIAN reported, early spring grain crops in Ternopil, Zhytomyr and Lviv regions need to be re-sown as bad weather conditions had damaged them. Such crops are in good condition in Ukraine's central and southern regions.

UNIAN