Ukraine's spring grain plantings 85% complete

Ukrainian farms had sown 3.6 million hectares of early spring grain to the 2010 crop as of April 16, compared with 4.5 million by the same date in 2009.

The farm ministry said the sown area had included 257,000 hectares of spring wheat, 2.8 million of spring barley, 289,000 of peas and 271,000 of oats.

Agriculture consultancy, UkrAgroConsult last month said farms were likely to sow a total 16.145 million hectares to the 2010 grain harvest compared with 15.67 million a year earlier.

The government has said the 2010 grain crop could reach 46-47 million tonnes compared with 46 million in 2009.