KYIV: Ukrainian farms have harvested 79.7 million tonnes of grain from 95.3% of the sowing area, with the yield averaging 5.25 tonnes per hectare, the agriculture ministry said on Friday. The volume includes 32.4 million tonnes of wheat, 9.9 million tonnes of barley, 35 million tonnes of corn and small volumes of other grains, the ministry said.

It said farmers were still due to harvest the remaining 12.5% of the corn area. Favourable weather could help Ukraine harvest a record 80.3 million tonnes of grain this year, up from 65 million tonnes in 2020, the ministry has said. It has said grain exports could jump to 61.5 million tonnes in the 2021/22 July-June season, from 44.7 million in 2020/21.

The volume could include 24.5 million tonnes of wheat, 30.9 million tonnes of corn and 5.2 million tonnes of barley. Last season, Ukraine exported 23.1 million tonnes of corn, 16.6 million tonnes of wheat and 4.2 million tonnes of barley.