War: the grain harvest in Ukraine will fall by 40% in 2022

The grain harvest in Ukraine, one of the world’s top producers, will fall by around 40% this year from 2021 due to the Russian invasion, according to estimates by the National Grain Association announced towards the end of the harvest. After 106 million tons harvested in 2021, a historical record, “this year, the harvest is expected to reach 64-65 million tons,” explained the director of this association, Serguiï Ivachtchenko.

The area of ​​cultivated fields was reduced by a quarter

“The main reason is the war,” which caused a reduction in the cultivated area and a drop in yields, he explained. Unleashed in late February in eastern, southern and northern Ukraine, the Russian invasion turned the country’s agricultural industry upside down at a time when, known for its highly fertile black soils, it was the world’s fourth largest exporter of corn and on the way to become the third largest exporter of wheat.

The military offensive first caused a fuel shortage “which made the planting campaign difficult,” stressed Serguiï Ivashtchenko. The blockade of Ukrainian seaports by the Russian military has also prevented grain exports for months, with the proceeds from these being used to finance the planting campaign, he added. “The occupation of part of the regions, the hostilities in the fields, the destruction of the infrastructure” reduced the total area of ​​the fields cultivated by cereal producers by “nearly a quarter” compared to the previous year, he argued. the official. .

Resumption of cereal exports in August

To date, Ukraine has harvested 46.6 million tons of grain in 90% of working fields, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy said on Friday. However, 30% of the corn still remains to be harvested, noted Sergey Ivashchenko.

Les exportaciones de céréales et d’autres produits agricoles à partir des portes ukrainiens ont pu reprendre en août, après la signature d’un accord humanitarian international signed sous l’égide des Etats-Unis et de la Turquie qui a failed échouer à l’ autumn. A total of 580 ships carrying 15 million tons of grain left Ukrainian ports bound for Asian, African and European countries, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.