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Ukraine suspended harvesting works because of weather
Deputy Agrarian Policy Minister Vasyl Serheyev told reporters at a briefing July 15 that virtually all the regions of Ukraine had suspended grain harvesting works because of difficult weather conditions.
He said there had been 17 regions (out of 25) in country that had started grain harvest as of the day.
He said the current problems were related to excessive rains and windstorms. Nevertheless the ministry hopes that the yields and total collection of grains will not suffer.
He said the wheat yield as of the moment had averaged 2.89 tonnes per hectare, barley yield - 2.87 tonnes per hectare.
The official said the weather was going to come back to norm in a few days, but this would not last for long. Therefore, the ministry recommends the southern regions to involve all the available resources in order to accelerate the harvest to a maximally possible extent in the period of favourable weather.
He added that the optimal terms for beginning of harvest in the northern and western regions will arrive in about 10 days.
According to the ministry's forecast, the total grain crop in Ukraine will reach this year 35 to 37 million tonnes. The sown area under grains is 15.5 million hectares.