This year Ukrainian farmers may sow largest area of spring wheat in last 12 years

According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, 285,000 hectares of spring wheat may be planted in Ukraine this year. The last time such areas were planted during the spring sowing season was 12 years ago.

The Ministry reported this, Ukrinform says.

It is noted that in 2013, before the start of Russia's war against Ukraine and the temporary occupation of part of Ukraine's territories, Ukrainian farmers sowed 160,200 hectares of spring wheat. In 2021, 192,100 hectares of spring wheat were sown.

Currently, the leader in sowing this crop is Dnipro region, where farmers have already sown 32,100 hectares. Ternopil region in 2022 sowed the most (22,400 hectares). In 2021 Zhytomyr region led the way (21,800 hectares).

Despite the increased area under spring wheat, it still accounts for only 10% of the total area under this crop in Ukraine. The Ministry explains that this growth does not significantly compensate for the overall reduction in wheat acreage in the new season.

According to the preliminary forecasts of the Ministry, this year's harvest of grains and legumes will amount to 45 million tonnes, including over 16.5 million tonnes of wheat. The same figure for the wheat harvest in Ukraine was also included by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in its first agricultural forecast for the new marketing season 23/24.

As Ukrinform reported, as of the first half of May 2023, 246,600 hectares of spring wheat have already been sown in Ukraine.