September 19, 2006

 

Ukraine's corn harvest affected by poor weather

 

 

Farmers in Ukraine have begun this year's corn harvest, with 90,000 tonnes harvested, with an average yield of 2.79 tonnes a hectare, according to the agriculture ministry.

 

The total area to be harvested this year is 1.831 million hectares.

 

The agriculture ministry said adverse weather conditions would result in corn harvest this year falling 20 percent to 6 million from 7.167 million tonnes in 2005.

 

In other news, Ukraine can export 5 million tonnes of barley in the 2006-2007 marketing year, 1.05 million tonnes more than in the previous marketing year, APK-Inform market analyst said in a report.

 

In July-August, the first two months of the current marketing year, Ukraine exported 1.02 million tonnes of barley, which is 1.7 times the amount exported in the corresponding period in the previous marketing year.

 

The largest importer of Ukrainian barley during the period was Saudi Arabia with 597,800 tonnes.

 

Large amounts of Ukrainian barley were also exported to Jordan.

 

Meanwhile, the country's poultry output in January-August increased by 25 percent, compared with the corresponding period last year, to 256,100 tonnes, according to the state statistics agency.

 

Pork output during the period recorded spectacular growth, increasing by 55 percent to 79,000 tonnes.

 

Beef output however, fell by 13 percent to 92,700 tonnes.