KYIV: Ukrainian farms have almost completed 2021 spring grain sowing, seeding most of the early spring grains and finishing corn sowing, agriculture ministry data showed on Monday.

Farms had sown 176,600 hectares of spring wheat, or 99.2% of the expected area, the data showed. They also sowed 1.39 million hectares of spring barley, equating to 96.2% of the planned area, and around 5.3 million hectares of corn, amounting to 92% of the expected area.

The economy ministry has said that favourable weather could help Ukraine to harvest at least 75 million tonnes of grain this year, versus 65 million tonnes in 2020.

Ukraine’s new agriculture minister Roman Lyshchenko on Monday said that the country could harvest 100 million tonnes of grains and oilseeds this year.

Scientists expect the harvest to reach up to 71 million tonnes.

The agriculture ministry said the overall grain area is likely to total 15.5 million hectares this year, including 7.6 million hectares of spring grains.