Ukraine Expects To Harvest 50-M Tons Of Grain This Year

Ukraine plans to harvest at least 50 million tons of grain in 2022, a decrease from the previous year's harvest of 85 million tons but still beyond forecasts, according to Taras Vysotskyi, Ukraine's first deputy minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, Yulia Kesaieva reported for CNN.

Photo Insert: A wheat field in Ukraine

“Taking into consideration all circumstances and difficulties of the sowing campaign and the logistics during the wartime, we expect the harvest to be not that bad — higher than the average for the last five years,” Vysotskyi said.

“At least 50 tons of grain, maybe more. It depends on corn harvest, the results of which we will see in October."

Vysotskyi went on to say that Ukraine would have to export at least a portion of that grain. “We have internal consumption less than 20 million tons, meaning that at least 30 million tons of harvest will have to be exported,” he said.

Vysotskyi further added that “350,000 tons of agricultural products were exported in March, 1,000,000 tons in April. Now, in June, it was 2,100,000 tons. This means that our alternative logistics routes, excluding the Black Sea Ports, have increased.”

He also said the wheat crop will be of a food consumption quality, meaning it can be used for flour and bread making, as opposed to being feed for livestock.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic