Ukraine: any harvest potential in case of such record delay of winter sowing campaign?
According to the official data, the paces of winter wheat sowing campaign in Ukraine demonstrate the great delay from the last year. By October 17, 2011 winter wheat was sown throughout ??5.99 million hectares as against 6.14 million hectares on the same date last year.
As APK-Inform Agency notes in recent years, the area planted under winter wheat in Ukraine was within the range 6,6-6,7 million hectares. In 2011, under the influence of adverse weather conditions, the forecast of the sown area under this crop (according to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food) decreased to 6.57 million hectare versus the previously announced 6.7 million hectares.
The analysts of the agency also noted that, according to Ukrainian hydro meteorological center in 2011, there were the adverse weather conditions for planting winter wheat. A number of farmers from different regions temporarily suspended planting because of drought on the soil waiting for precipitation. Some of them even reduced winter sowings due to inappropriate further planting.
Thus, this autumn as a result of these factors, there were the prerequisites for reducing the sown area under winter crops compared to the last year. According to the forecast of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food the sowing area under winter wheat in 2012 will total 8.1 million hectares against 8.3 million hectares planted in autumn 2010
Note that in Ukraine as of October 17, winter crops were sown throughout 7.12 million hectares against 7.37 million ha sown on the same date in 2010.