Severe drought has reduced the share of Ukrainian winter crops which are in good condition to around 29 percent as of November 5, from 41 percent at the same date last year, analyst UkrAgroConsult said on Monday. The share of crops in satisfactory condition decreased to 40 percent from 42 percent while the acreage of poor crops jumped to 31 percent from 17 percent, the consultancy said in a report.
State weather forecasters and analysts have said autumn drought across half of Ukraine had hit winter sowing and could sharply reduce the country's 2016 wheat harvest. The Ukrainian agriculture ministry has said 3.8 million hectares or 59 percent of the seeded area had sprouted as of November 6.
It said 2.7 million hectares had yielded no seedlings so far. Agriculture Minister Oleksiy Pavlenko told Reuters last month that Ukraine's winter wheat acreage could shrink by more than 10 percent due to dry weather this autumn. UkrAgroConsult has said Ukrainian wheat harvest could fall by 20 percent next year, hitting exports from the world's sixth-largest wheat exporter. The uncertainty over winter wheat sowing and concern about the volume of the next year's harvest have prompt the ministry to monitor the pace of grain exports more carefully, a government source said.