Ukraine expects record grain harvest this year
2014-10-02 12:44:04
The Ukrainian Agricultural Ministry on Wednesday lifted its grain harvest forecast for this year to a record 64.42 million tons from 60 million tons estimated previously.
"This figure includes wheat, rye, buckwheat, corn, barley, peas, oats, rice, sorghum and other crops output," Agriculture Minister Igor Shvaika told a press conference.
According to him, the pace of grain harvesting showed that Ukrainian farmers have prospects to reap a record 30 million tons of corn this year.
Shvaika added that the average grain yield in 2014 is projected to reach 4.39 tons per hectare, up 9 percent from the last year.
In 2013, Ukraine's grain harvest topped a record high of nearly 63.4 million tons. The East European country exported 32.3 million tons of cereals in the 2013-2014 marketing season, becoming one of the world's leading grain exporters.