War-conditioned change of crops for sowing to not be massive – UCAB

18:45, 06.04.2022 2 min read

The traditional structure of spring crops in Ukraine consists of wheat (25% of all sown areas in 2021), sunflower (24%) and corn (20%), and the factors associated with Russia's military invasion will not lead to a change in this ratio in favor of other agricultural crops by more than 10-15% in 2022.

The corresponding forecast was published by the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB) on its Facebook page on Wednesday.

According to the organization, usually agrarians preferred sowing to the most marginal crops, but the war partially changed priorities – many farmers plan to cultivate those crops that can support Ukraine's food security first of all.

"However, such a replacement will not exceed 10-15%, since farmers are preparing for the sowing campaign in advance and already have some of the necessary seeds, fertilizers and plant protection products, as well as appropriate equipment," the UCAB quotes its analyst Svitlana Lytvyn.

As reported, Minister of Agrarian Policy Mykola Solsky recommended that farmers sow crops with the maximum unit value in order to receive maximum revenue from their export by supplying relatively small batches of agricultural raw materials abroad. He clarified that these include sunflower, rapeseed and soybeans.

As of April 1, Ukraine sowed 600,000 hectares with basic agricultural crops, which is 4.4% of 13.44 million hectares planned for the current season.