KYIV. Feb 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Grain and oilseeds harvest of Industrial Milk Company (IMC) in 2016 grew by 12% compared to 2015, to 717,000 tonnes.
The holding said in a press release on Thursday that milk production in 2016 fell by 22%, to 15,000 tonnes. The decrease in milk production volumes was associated with the implementation of the project on optimization of the cattle herd. As a result of the project, the average milk yield in the IMC increased by 2% compared with 2015, to 5.6 tonnes per forage cow.
Potato harvest last year rose by 31%, to 21,000 tonnes.
Sales in the crop planting segment totaled 691,000 tonnes (9% down on 2015), including around 502,000 tonnes of corn (17% down). The decline in sales in the crop farming segment was due to lower carry-over stocks of corn at the beginning of 2016. 80% of sales in the crop farming segment (about 556,000 tonnes) was exported.
According to the report, improvement of cultivation technology, along with favorable weather conditions have led to significant yields growth of almost all crops: corn gross yield grew by 24%, to 8.1 tonne per ha, soybeans – by 31%, to 3.4 tonnes per ha, potatoes – by 38%, to 40.4 tonner per ha, and for wheat it fell by 5%, to 4.8 tonnes per ha.
IMC focuses on cultivation of grains, oilseeds and potatoes. It is one of the largest milk producers in Ukraine. It owns a storage capacity of 554,000 tonnes of grains and oilseeds. Its land bank is 136,600 ha in Poltava, Chernihiv and Sumy regions.
