Bad weather might reduce Ukraine's harvest by 1-2% - ministry

MOSCOW. June 25 (Interfax) - Bad weather in various parts of Ukraine will not have a significant impact on this year's harvest, possibly reducing it by no more than 1-2%, Ukrainian media reported, citing acting Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Taras Vysotsky.

He said a number of regions have seen flooding, while some regions have been hit by drought and frost. "This is a 1-2% adjustment, so in general one can characterize the weather conditions in most cases as favourable at the moment," Vysotsky said in an interview posted on YouTube.

Ukraine has now harvested more than 100,000 tonnes of this year's grain, he said. The main crops with which harvesting began are winter and spring barley, peas and wheat.

The Agrarian Policy Ministry's preliminary forecast for the grain and grain legume harvest is now 56 million tonnes, Vysotsky said.

He said the production area for grain crops has decreased due to a change in crop rotation, while the oil crop area has expanded.

"If we're talking about rapeseed, sunflower and soybean, production of more than 20 million tonnes, possibly even up to 22 million tonnes is expected this year," Vysotsky said.

He also said Ukraine plans to export more than 60% of its agricultural output in the 2024-2025 agricultural year.

"We remain an export-oriented country in terms of agriculture. Most of the products that we grow will be exported. This will probably be more than 60%," Vysotsky said.