Ukraine 2023 spring grain sowing 97% complete by May 25 – ministry

Ukrainian 2023 spring grain sowing was 97% complete at almost 5.3 million hectares on May 25, agriculture ministry data showed on Thursday.
The ministry has said the overall spring grain sowing area could shrink to 5.5 million hectares in 2023 from 5.9 million in 2022 because of Russia’s invasion and occupation of a significant part of the country.
The total sown area at May 25 included 261,900 hectares of spring wheat, 763,300 hectares of barley, 135,600 hectares of peas, 145,500 hectares of oats and 3.7 million hectares of corn.
The ministry gave no comparative figures.
Ukraine’s grain sowing area – for both winter and spring – could decrease by 1.4 million hectares to 10.2 million hectares this year while the area sown to oilseeds could rise, the ministry said last month.
It said the 2023 grain harvest could drop to about 45 million tonnes from 53.1 million tonnes while oilseed output could rise to 19.2 million tonnes from 18.2 million tonnes.
The ministry said farmers had also sown 240,900 hectares of sugar beet, 4.62 million hectares of sunflowers and 1.6 million hectares of soy beans.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)