July 16, 2012

Ukraine's autumn-harvest crops hurt by drought, heat most

As Ukraine's harvest is already formed, weather now may have lesser impact on the early crops, but autumn-harvest crops suffer from drought and heat most, Tetiana Adamenko, the head of agricultural meteorology at the Ukrainian Weather Centre of the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry, told the press on Friday (July 13).

"In particular, high temperatures and lack of rain have a negative impact on corn. In this situation, the harvesting capacity of this crop will be lower than previously expected," the weather forecaster admits.

According to her, the drought has mainly affected south-eastern and central regions. The expert noted that the effective rainfall in some areas have been missing since the end of April.

The drought, enhanced with abnormally sultry weather, hits about 50% of crops in Ukraine, Adamenko noted.