The State Statistics Service of Ukraine has confirmed grain harvest in 2018 at 70 million tonnes, the press service of the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry of Ukraine has reported.
“The final report of the State Statistics Service on harvest in 2018 confirmed overcoming the historic for Ukraine grain production in weight after threshing – 70.057 million tonnes with a yield of 4.74 tonnes per hectare. In addition, the gross harvesting of corn, soybean and sunflower and the yield of sugar beet were the highest in the history,” Deputy Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food Volodymyr Topchiy said.
In particular, Ukraine harvested 24.6 million tonnes of wheat with a yield of 3.73 tonnes per hectare, 35.8 million tonnes of corn with a yield of 7.84 tonnes per hectare, 4.5 million tonnes of soybeans with a yield of 2.58 tonnes per hectare, and 14.2 million tonnes of sunflower with a yield of 2.3 tonnes per hectare.
As reported, Ukraine since the beginning of the 2018/2019 agricultural year (July-June) as of March 20, 2019 exported 35.605 million tonnes of grain and leguminous plants, which is 20.8% more than on the same date of the previous agri-year.
According to the ministry, grain exports in 2018/2019 agri-year are projected to be 49 million tonnes (in 2017/2018 agri-year it was 39.4 million to tonnes).
ASKA insurance company (Kyiv) has paid UAH 1.635 million to an agricultural enterprise for the loss of apple harvest, the insurer has said in a press release.
According to the report, in July 2018, it rained with thunderstorms and hail in the territory of the insured gardens, a significant part of the apple harvest was damaged and lost.
“After the hail, a significant part of the apple harvest, which should be sold fresh, could only be handed over for processing. Another part of the fruit was completely destroyed. Deltafruit suffered significant losses,” Anton Ruban, the owner of the agricultural firm, said.
Three of the five insured sites were also affected. In the first two, due to hail, harvest quality deteriorated by 83-85%, and losses in both the quality and quantity were obtained in the third site.
“ASKA compensated for the loss of quality at the rate of UAH 5.6 per each kilogram of apples. The compensation cost for the lost amount is UAH 3.6 and UAH 9 per kilogram, respectively. These estimates are specified in the insurance contract and depend on the apple variety. On January 18, the client received 70% of the payment, the rest of the money was transferred in stages. We completed the settlement early February,” Corporate Insurance Director for ASKA Olena Shustur said.
ASKA said that this is the first case of such a large-scale payment in Ukraine related to damage to the harvest of fruit trees. The damage was caused by hail, secondary diseases due to hail, and most importantly, damage from the loss of commercial quality of fruits, which accounted for most of the damage, was also covered.
Gross grain harvest in 2018 totals around 70.1 million compared with 62 million last year, the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry of Ukraine has reported. According to a press release of the ministry, the country threshed 35.5 million tonnes of corn, 24.5 million tonnes of wheat, 7.3 million tonnes of barley, 0.41 million tonnes of rye and 0.13 million tonnes of buckwheat.
In addition, some 13.7 million tonnes of sunflower, 4.4 million tonnes of soybeans, 2.6 million tonnes of rapeseeds were harvested and 13 million tonnes of sugar beets were dug. The largest grain harvest was recorded in Poltava region (6.4 million tonnes). Some 6.1 million tonnes was harvested in Vinnytsia region and 4.8 million tonnes in Cherkasy region.
The highest yield for grain and leguminous crops was in Cherkasy region (7.28 tonnes per ha), as well as in Khmelnytsky region (7.16 tonnes per ha) and Vinnytsia region (7.13 tonnes per ha).
The ministry predicts that grain exports in 2018/19 agricultural year (July-June) would be 47.2 million tonnes compared with 39.9 million tonnes in 2017/18 agri-year.
As of December 18 of this year, from the beginning of the 2018/2019 agri-year, Ukraine exported 21.02 million tonnes of grain and leguminous crops, in particular, 10.02 million tonnes of wheat, 3.1 million tonnes of barley, 7.5 million tonnes of corn and 0.4 million tonnes of other cereals have been exported so far.
Ukraine in 2018 threshed over 70 million tonnes of grain and hit a record over all years of the country’s independence, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Oleh Churiy has said.
“We have a record grain harvest in all years of our independence – over 70 million tonnes. If we take into account oilseeds, this is over 100 million tonnes,” he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.
Currency income from agricultural products along with tough monetary and moderate fiscal policies was the key factors of strengthening of the national currency, he said.
Acting Agricultural Policy and Food Minister of Ukraine Maskym Martyniuk wrote on his Facebook page that in Ukraine the forecast for grain exports in 2018/19 agricultural year (July-June) was revised upwards from 42.5 million tonnes to over 45 million tonnes. Gradual exhausting of the agricultural infrastructure could hinder the implementation of the agriculture’s potential, he said.
Martyniuk said that the country has 170 markets where it sells agricultural products.
“In the past eight years Ukraine added 50 countries to the list of trade partners, losing one (but large one),” he said.
Ukraine as of November 29 threshed 67.6 million tonnes of grain and leguminous crops from 14.5 million hectares (98% of the target) with the yield of 4.72 tonnes per hectare, the press service of Ukraine’s Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry has reported.
Some 34.3 million tonnes of early grain and leguminous crops was harvested from 9.9 million hectares with a yield of 3.48 tonnes per hectare, while 33.3 million tonnes of maize was gathered from 4.3 million hectares (95%) with a yield of 7.69 tonnes per hectare, Ukraine’s Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food said.
The yield of buckwheat was 136,000 tonnes harvested from 108,000 hectares (99%), or 1.26 tonnes per hectare; that of millet was 78,000 tonnes from 51,000 hectares (98%), or 1.54 tonnes per hectare.
What is more, Ukrainian farmers threshed 13.8 million tonnes of sunflower seeds from 6 million hectares (99.8%) with a yield of 2.28 tonnes per hectare; 4.3 million tonnes of soybeans from 1.7 million hectares (99%) with a yield of 2.58 tonnes per hectare; 2.7 million tonnes of rapeseeds from 1 million hectares with a yield of 2.61 tonnes per hectare.
The yield of sugar beets was 13.5 million tonnes from 273,000 hectares (98% of the plan), or 49.4 tonnes per hectare.
Ukrainian farmers have sowed 7.1 million hectares with winter grain crops (the plan is 7.2 million hectares) and 1 million hectares with winter rapeseeds (116% of the plan).
The ministry expects Ukraine’s grain yield in 2018 will grow by 2 million tonnes compared to 2017, to 64 million tonnes.
Ukraine’s Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry has repeatedly reviewed the grain harvest of 2018 upwards – from 63.1 million tonnes to 64 million tonnes, First Deputy Minister Maksym Martyniuk has said. “As a result of the rains, we have very good indicators for corn. And today we are ready to voice a bold forecast that we will have a gross grain harvest of 64 million tonnes,” he said during the “Money, Go!” program broadcasted on the Novoye Vremia radio.
Martyniuk said that this is the second result in history after the year before last’s record of 66 million tonnes. In addition, the ministry reviewed the outlook for grain exports from Ukraine by 0.5 million tonnes to 42.5 million tonnes, adding that the achievement of this indicator largely depends on the ability of Ukrzaliznytsia to quickly solve current logistical problems and ensure a rhythmic supply of grain in ports. According to the ministry, as of October 19, 52.2 million tonnes of grain were harvested in Ukraine from an area of 12.7 million hectares (86%) with a yield of 4.11 tonnes per hectare.
The grain harvest in Ukraine in 2017 amounted to 61.3 million tonnes. Ukraine in 2017/2018 agricultural year exported 39.4 million tonnes of grain.
