Ukraine lost 6.0 percent of its winter crop area to severe frosts at the start of the year and drought at the end of 2005, the State Statistics Committee said on Friday. Ukraine's farms were likely to harvest 4,941,700 hectares of winter crops in 2006, 16.3 percent less than in 2005, the committee said.
It said winter crop losses reached 29.7 percent in the Sumy region of northern Ukraine and 17.5 percent in the southern Odessa region.
Analysts have said Ukraine had lost 2.7 percent of its winter crop area by the same date in 2005.
In tonnage terms, the committee gave no winter grain crop forecast for 2006. Analysts have said it might total 11.765 million tonnes - far less than 19.3 million tonnes in 2005. But the Agriculture Ministry has said a higher spring sowing area would compensate for the decrease in the winter crop area and a possible fall in harvest.
Agriculture Minister Oleksander Baranivsky said this week Ukraine had almost completed 2006 spring sowing and the country was likely to harvest at least 38 million tonnes of grain this year.