The enterprises of Astarta, Ukraine’s largest sugar producer, have completed the spring sowing campaign on 146,000 hectares, responding quickly to the weather conditions of the season, the agricultural holding’s press service reported on Facebook.
“This year’s spring sowing took place under challenging weather conditions: abnormally high temperatures in March and frosts in April. Low soil moisture reserves after winter and their rapid decline due to early temperature rises forced the team to act quickly and in a coordinated manner. During a short “window” of favorable conditions, our divisions coordinated the entire complex of spring field work, completing sowing in the shortest possible time,” said Andriy Zagorulko, director of the crop production, logistics, and mechanization department of the agricultural holding.
Astarta noted that in the 2025 season, the crop structure will be as follows: sugar beets – 34,000 hectares, soybeans – 56,000 hectares, winter wheat – 46,000 hectares, sunflowers – 29,000 hectares, rapeseed – 11,000 hectares, corn – 14,000 hectares, and organic crops – 2,000 hectares.
Farmers are currently continuing to care for their crops, constantly monitoring their condition, moisture levels, and phytosanitary status. The production team is actively preparing for the start of the early grain harvest, which will begin in less than two months.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It comprises six sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220,000 hectares, dairy farms with 22,000 head of cattle, an oil extraction plant in Hlobyn (Poltava region), seven elevators, and a biogas complex.
” In the first nine months of 2024, Astarta increased its net profit by 35.1% compared to the same period in 2023, to EUR75.60 million, revenue grew by 12.6% to EUR441.46 million, and EBITDA by 12.8% to $131.56 million.
