Ukraine sows early spring grain crops on 0.48 m ha, says minister
Ukraine as of March 20, 2013 sowed early spring grain and leguminous crops on 0.48 million hectares, Agricultural Policy and Food Minister Mykola Prysiazhniuk has said.
The minister said at a briefing on Wednesday that the worsening of weather for a long period of time affects the sowing campaign.
"Certain weather conditions have suspended the pace of the spring campaign. This does not cause a threat now, although a delay in the work is seen. We should mobilize and conduct the work in shorter terms," he said.
Prysiazhniuk said that in Crimea early spring grain crops were sowed on 92,000 hectares (103% of the target), in Odesa region 141,000 hectares (75% of the target), Kherson region 131,000 hectares (84% of the target), Mykolaiv region 63,300 hectares (71% of the target), Zaporizhia region 40,000 hectares (18% of the target), Dnipropetrovsk region 7,000 hectares (3% of the target) and Donetsk region 3,700 hectares (2% of the target).
The minister said that the ministry retains its forecast for resowing of fields with winter crops at 300,000-500,000 hectares.
He also said that winter grain crops are in good and satisfactory state on 91.6% of fields, and they are weak on 8.4% of fields. Rapeseeds are good on 67.2% of the fields, 26% are in a satisfactory state and 6.8% are weak.
The minister also said that in the major part of the regions farmers put first fertilizers for winter grain crops – on 4.8 million hectares, or 60% of fields of the previous forecasts.
He said that over the period in 2012 half as many fields received fertilizers – 2.7 million hectares.