Ukraine 2009 grain crop falls

Ukraine's grain harvest fell 13.7 percent to 46 million tonnes in 2009 from a record 53.3 million in 2008, the State Statistics Committee said on Friday. The committe said in a statement the wheat crop fell to 20.9 million tonnes from 25.9 million and the barley harvest fell to 11.8 million from 12.6 million.
Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko last month said the harvest should exceed 48.5 million tonnes, while analysts put the crop at 44.4 million. The committee gave no reason for the fall, but said the grain yield averaged 2.97 tonnes per hectare in 2009 against 3.46 tonnes in 2008.