January 10, 2013

In 2013, Ukraine could increase the harvest of winter crops by 20-30% compared to 2012.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said at a meeting of the government on Wednesday (Jan 2), "That's our target for the harvest, and we have to do our utmost to hit it."

He said that conditions for the growth of winter crops in autumn 2012 were much better than last year. He also noted that, according to the latest update, 96% of the winter crops had sprouted as of the beginning of January.

"We have three times less weaker crops compared to 2011. This is a quite good figure, giving us hope for a good harvest," the premier said.

According to the State Statistics Service, Ukraine sowed winter crops for grain and green fodder, including rapeseeds, on 9.2 million hectares for the 2013 harvest, which is 2.5% less than areas sown with winter crops for the 2012 harvest.

Areas under winter crops in 2012 were 8.1 million hectares, which is 3.5% down on-year. In particular, areas under winter wheat decreased by 0.2%, to 6.7 million hectares, those under rye - by 4.3%, to 300,000 hectares, and barley - by 19.5%, to 1.1 million hectares.

At the same time, according to the service, rapeseeds for the 2013 harvest were sown on 1.03 million hectares, which is 7.2% up on the previous year.