Winter crops in Ukraine have been killed on 1-8% of the sowed fields, depending on the region, the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry of Ukraine has reported.

The ministry said that the crop damage rate is normal.

"In January winter crops were mainly in a state of hibernation and did not change. Only in Crimea and Kherson region, where there were the warmest days, did the vegetation of winter crops resume and more plants appeared on some fields," reads the report of the ministry.

The ministry said that heavy rain in December and January moistened the soil, which was good for the winter crops, while a lack of moisture was seen in Crimea and Kherson region.

Over the past week, 45,600 sprouts have appeared in Crimea. As of February 8, 2013, winter crops had sprouted on 7.9 million hectares, which is 97.5% of the total fields with crops. The crops are in good and satisfactory state on 7.2 million hectares (92.3%), while weak crops are seen on 700,000 hectares (8.7%).

The ministry also said that there are risks of damage to crops in some regions due to the formation of ice. This concerns some fields in Luhansk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv and other regions. According to the ministry, the threat is small and depends on how long the ice lies.

As reported, referring to the State Statistics Service, Ukraine sowed winter crops of grain and green fodder, including rapeseeds, on 9.2 million hectares for the 2013 harvest, which is 2.5% less than areas sown with winter crops for the 2012 harvest.

The areas under winter crops in 2012 were 8.1 million hectares, which is 3.5% down year-on-year. In particular, areas under winter wheat decreased by 0.2%, to 6.7 million hectares, those under rye - by 4.3%, to 300,000 hectares, and those under barley - by 19.5%, to 1.1 million hectares.

At the same time, according to the service, rapeseeds for the 2013 harvest were sown on 1.03 million hectares, which is 7.2% up on the previous year.