Third of Ukraine winter barley crops in poor state

More than a third of Ukrainian winter barley crops are in a poor state, raising concerns about the 2015 harvest, Kiev-based UkrAgroConsult agriculture consultancy said on Monday. According to the consultancy's data, just 18.3 percent of winter barley is in a good state, 43.1 percent is satisfactory and 38.6 percent weak and sparse. Last year, the share of weak crops accounted for less than 10 percent.
"This can be explained by a long rain-free period in the fall, late rainfalls and strong frosts at the time when one or two leaves were being developed in barley seedlings," UkrAgroConsult said. The area under winter barley totalled 993,000 hectares this year, or 97 percent of the initial forecast, according to the agriculture ministry. Winter barley accounts for around a third of Ukrainian total barley harvest. This year, Ukraine harvested 9.3 million tonnes of barley compared with 7.6 million tonnes last year.
Weather forecasters said last week that a significant part of Ukrainian winter wheat area is also under threat as crops have been significantly delayed in their development and could be damaged by frost. Winter wheat accounts for about 95 percent of Ukrainian total wheat output.