November 22, 2011

About 150 kilogrammes of mineral fertilisers on one hectare should be used to gain an 80 million-tonne total yield of crops, said Prime Minister Mykola Azarov.

"In 1990 farmers spread 142 kilogrammes of fertilizers per one hectare with the yield being 50 million tonnes of crops, while this year they have used only 68 kilogrammes. It is obvious to achieve a total yield of crops at 80 million tonnes farmers have to use at least 150 kilogrammes of fertilizers per hectare," Azarov noted.

At the same time he emphasized the farmer did not have enough working capital to buy, first of all, seeds of good quality, mineral fertilizers and herbicides.

According to Azarov, the influence of environmental factors on grain yield makes about 30%, so does the use of high-quality seeds and hybrids of agricultural crops, as well as science-based crop rotation observance.

Employment of other innovations in the agrarian industry will promote additional one third to the grain yield, the prime minister emphasized.

As Ukrainian News reported, in the spring of 2011 the Cabinet of Ministers and chemical enterprises agreed to sell agricultural enterprises mineral fertilizers for the spring sowing campaign at preferential prices.