Ukraine's CFG starts planting winter rapeseed
MOSCOW. Aug 6 (Interfax) - Ukraine's Continental Farmers Group (CFG), which operates in western parts of the country, has begun planting winter crops for harvest in 2025.
The company has begun planting winter rapeseed, for which it plans to allocate 34,700 hectares, Ukrainian media reported, citing the group's press service.
"There has been precipitation in several waves in all regions where the company has a presence, so there is sufficient moisture in the soil and conditions are favorable for planting. Since the harvest is earlier than usual this year, land is being freed up faster, giving us the opportunity to intensively enter the fields with planting now," CFG operations director Konstantin Shityuk said in the press release.
He said the group's main technology is still direct seeding in the stubble of the predecessor, which for rapeseed is primarily wheat and barley. Shallow plowing is done in some fields. The group buys only hybrid rapeseed seeds from different producers.
CFG plans to finish planting winter rapeseed by August 20, after which it will start planting barley and wheat in the first third of September.
The group plans to allocate 88,800 hectares for winter crops this season, including 40,900 hectares for wheat and 13,200 hectares for barley.
The group said its seed plant began producing seeds somewhat earlier than in previous years in order to minimize risks due to disruptions in power supplies. CFG supplies all its own winter barley and wheat seeds. It currently needs about 12,000 tonnes of its own seeds. Preparation of barley seeds has already begun and is scheduled to be completed by August 10, after which the group will start production of wheat seeds, which will continue to the end of the planting campaign sometime in October.
CFG, one of Ukraine's largest potato growers, cultivates 195,000 hectares of land in Ternopol, Lvov, Khmelnitsky, Chernovitsky and Ivano-Frankovsk regions.
CFG is owned by the Saudi Agricultural & Livestock Investment Co. (SALIC). SALIC completed the merger of Ukrainian agribusiness group Mriya, which it bought in 2018, and CFG, which it already owned, under the Continental Farmers Group brand in 2019.