Ukraine's IMC completes spring sowing, reduces areas under spring crops in favor of winter wheat

MOSCOW. May 22 (Interfax) - Ukrainian agricultural holding IMC has completed its spring sowing campaign, planting a total of 78,500 hectares, including 46,300 ha with corn and 32,200 ha with sunflower, Ukrainian media reported, quoting the holding's press service.

"Due to a rainy and cool March and April, the spring sowing campaign at IMC started only on April 20. However, we managed to carry out this sowing in close to an ideal timeframe. This year, the area under spring crops is somewhat smaller than usual, given the almost two-fold increase of winter wheat crops in the 2023 crop mix," IMC said.

The change in the crop mix was caused by the situation in the country. The corn area was reduced in favor of winter wheat as more gas and electricity is needed to dry corn. The winter wheat area was 33,400 ha, which is 80% more than usual.

IMC planted 69,400 ha of crops in the spring of 2022, down 26% from the previous season's 94,300 ha, including 50,200 ha of corn and 19,200 ha of sunflower. IMC was unable to sow about 32,000 ha in Chernigov region. Thus, the area under spring crops this year increased by almost 15%, with the area under sunflower rising 70%.

IMC specializes in growing grains and oilseed crops and milk production. It operates a 120,000 hectare land bank in Poltava, Chernigov and Sumy regions, and owns capacity to store grains and oilseed crops.