Ukraine completes 93% of its 2022 cereal harvest with 49.5 million tons

Ukrainian farms harvested 49.5 million tons of grain from 93% of the planned area until January 6, the Ministry of Agriculture reported on Friday.

The ministry said in a statement that farmers had harvested 10.7 million hectares of crops, with an average grain yield of 4.64 tons per hectare.

It said farmers had completed the 2022 wheat and barley crops, threshing 20.2 million and 5.8 million tons respectively.

The total volume also included 22.1 million tons of corn, harvested on 81% of the planned area, with a yield of 6.48 tons per hectare.

In 2021 Ukraine harvested 32.2 million tons of wheat and 9.4 million tons of barley. According to the ministry, the drop in production in 2022 was due to hostilities in the eastern, northern and southern regions of the country.

Ukraine sowed more than 6 million hectares of winter wheat for the 2022 harvest, but a large area was occupied after the Russian invasion and only 4.9 million hectares were harvested on territory controlled by Ukraine.

The ministry said farmers also harvested 10.5 million tons of sunflower seeds from 99% of the planted area and 9 million tons of sugar beets from 99% of the area.

The government has said Ukraine could harvest about 51 million tons of grain this year, up from a record 86 million tons in 2021, due to loss of land to Russian forces and lower yields.