January 11, 2012
Ukraine sees decline in 2012 rapeseed crop
Due to poor quality of winter rapeseed crops after the drought, the 2012 rapeseed yield of Ukraine is seen to slide to between 950,000 and 1.2 million tonnes against 1.42 million tonnes in 2011, analyst UkrAgroConsult said Tuesday (Jan 10).
"A significant portion of weak, sparse crops may be lost in the winter or spring. We currently forecast Ukraine's 2012 winter rapeseed crop at 950,000 to 1.2 million tonnes," the consultancy said in a report.
UkrAgroConsult said the share of good rapeseed crops was 32.6% as of late December 2011 compared to 53.5% a year ago. The portion of crops which were in satisfactory state was 33% against 35.8% in December 2010, while rapeseed in poor condition accounted for 34.4% of the area.
Poor crops totalled 10.7% in December 2010.
The consultancy said farmers kept the area sown for spring rapeseed unchanged at about 70,000 to 77,000 hectares this year.
Ukraine traditionally exports about 90% of its rapeseed harvest.