KYIV. Aug 4 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The yield of sunflower seeds in Ukraine is projected to reach 10.3 million tonnes, head of the Ukrainian Weather Center’s agrometeorological department Tetiana Adamenko said at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.
“We think the crop capacity will be about 20.1 centners [one metric centner equals 100 kg] per hectare, and the gross yield could reach 10.3 million tonnes. We should proceed from the fact that the areas under sunflower crops this year are about 5 million hectares, which is less than in 2014 when it was 5.2 million hectares, and in 2013 it was 5 million hectares,” she said.
According to her, this year’s harvest will remain almost unchanged compared to last year, when Ukraine harvested about 10 million tonnes.
She also confirmed that the maize yield forecast is set at 26-27 million tonnes. She added that high temperatures in some regions could make farmers gather maize for silage, however she did not give more details about the size of the maize crops which could be used for silage.
In her words, there will be a favorable period after August 20 for sowing winter rapeseeds, but there could be a delay due to the absence of rain, which may affect any future harvest.
The gross yield of soybeans is expected to reach last year’s level. It may be a little higher than 3.8 million tonnes due to an increase in areas sown with soybeans.
As reported, the Ukrainian Weather Center forecast that the gross yield of grain in Ukraine in 2015 will reach 60.5 million tonnes.
