Ukraine will sow 5-7% fewer winter grain crops in 2023 than in 2022 - Ministry

MOSCOW. Oct 26 (Interfax) - Ukraine's Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food predicts that farmers will sow winter grain crops on an area 5-7% smaller than they did last year, Ukrainian media reported, citing First Deputy Minister Taras Vysotsky.

"We see today that rains and precipitation have resumed [after the soil drought in September]. This gives a positive signal for the sowing of winter crops. We predict that the sowing of winter grains will be less than it was last year. It looks like the decrease will be somewhere around 5-7%, no more," he said on the ministry's Telegram channel.

As for the country's agricultural exports through the sea corridor, Vysotsky noted that the situation is improving.

"If you look at the indicators for the first half of October, that is 700,000 tonnes, and there is hope that by the end of the month there may be 1 million or more. However, so far, unfortunately, this is less than what was exported via the "grain corridor," the deputy minister said, recalling that in various months of the canal's operation, on average, 2 million tonnes or more of agricultural products were exported through it.

"We are on the way to achieving similar, and perhaps even better, indicators than we had during the grain corridor. However, this will require some more time," he said.