Sowing campaign plan in Ukraine on 13 mln ha fulfilled by almost 90% - Agrarian Policy Ministry

MOSCOW. May 29 (Interfax) - Ukraine is planning to complete this year's sowing campaign between June 5 and 10, good weather in May allowed it to make up for the lag in April, Ukrainian media quoted Ukrainian First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy Taras Vysotsky as saying during the national telethon last Saturday.

"The plan set at 13 million hectares is fulfilled by 85%, even closer to 90%, which means that literally in early June, between June 5 and 10, the sowing campaign will be fully completed," he said.

Vysotsky noted that the sowing of early spring crops, such as spring wheat, barley, peas and oats, has already been completed. The sowing of sugar beets has also been completed in an amount greater than last year. "Sugar will be produced more than enough," he said.

Meanwhile, the sowing of late crops, including sunflower, soybeans and, partly, corn, continues. "This year, the share of oilseed crops, namely soybeans, sunflower and rapeseed, has increased. This is primarily linked to costly logistics, respectively, changing the crop rotation for those crops that have a higher price per tonne, per unit of the purchased products," Vysotsky said.

He said that the sowing campaign is currently lagging behind the average statistical forecast by up to one and a half to two weeks, but this is not dramatic so far.

The first deputy minister said that the first two ten-day periods of June will be crucial. "Our colleagues from the Hydrometeorological Center say in advance that it should still be raining briefly, but quite intensely during this period [...]. We hope that it will still be raining throughout Ukraine for the vegetation growth in the next two ten-day periods," Vysotsky said.