Ukraine will have wheat for export no less than last season

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy calculated how much wheat of this year’s harvest Ukraine will be able to export. In general, in 2023/2024, the volumes of wheat for export will not decrease.

Despite a 20% reduction in the production areas on which agricultural crops are grown, due to the occupation of a number of regions, favorable weather conditions will allow farmers to collect and export wheat at least as much as last season. This opinion was shared by the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solskyi.

“Transitional crop residues in 2023 are approximately five times smaller than in the 2022 season, when 27 million tons of agricultural products were in the country as of mid-summer,” he said.

Evaluating the prospects of the 2023 harvest, the minister noted that 20% less production area was allocated for agricultural crops this season than in the pre-war year 2021, due to areas in Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and the south of the country that are currently under occupation. He also clarified that during the autumn sowing campaign of 2022, 25% less winter crops were sown than in 2021.

At the same time, thanks to the weather, a significantly larger harvest was obtained on these areas.

“It was not a harsh winter, there were no sharp temperature drops, there was enough humidity, which was the reason for the increase in the harvest. It was difficult for agrarians – they saved on seeds, herbicides, fertilizers. But one factor compensated for another,” explained Solsky.

However, speaking about the harvest of spring crops in the current season, the minister emphasized that a combination of natural and climatic factors, in particular wet summer and average temperatures, affected the quality of grain, which will be worse than last season.

“We have less food wheat, more fodder wheat. But this is a standard situation for Ukraine, when the season depends primarily on weather conditions,” said the head of the agricultural department.