Losses of late crops due to drought may amount to 10-15%, acting Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky said during a national telethon.
“There are two main types of crops – early and late. If we are talking about the harvest of wheat, barley, peas, rapeseed, rye, oats, millet, this is the early group. It was affected by the heat wave, but not critically. The worst impact was recorded in the southeastern regions, but in general, we actually reached the previously forecasted figure (gross harvest – IF-U) for these crops, which is 2-3% lower,” he said.
The acting minister reminded that the group of crops with late ripening periods includes sunflower, corn and sugar beet. They are harvested mainly in the fall.
“This is likely to have a more negative impact of abnormal temperatures. It will be possible to determine the exact impact only after the harvest, but today it looks like the harvest of these crops may be reduced by up to 10-15%. There are regions where there will be no reduction, where there was sufficient rainfall to make it easier to cope with this abnormal heat. But there are regions where the impact is critical,” explained Vysotsky.
The acting minister added that the exact figures of crop losses due to the 2024 heat wave will be known in September-October, when the bulk of the harvest is collected.
