Rains can reduce grain yield by 10%

The deputy chairman of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council, Denys Marchuk, told AgroPortal.ua in a comment that the moistening of the soil by rains at the beginning of April improved the harvest, because in winter the snow cover was insufficient. However, prolonged and heavy rains for a long time have the opposite effect, worsening the quality of winter wheat and barley.

According to him, the producers were not able to go to the fields to carry out the necessary processing of winter crops, so it is possible that 20-30% more fodder grain will be collected, depending on the region.

In addition, a significant part of the fields throughout the country is "floating", which, according to the preliminary forecast, will delay the completion of the sowing campaign until the end of May. Such a calendar plan is not suitable for all cultures. For example, farmers have already missed the deadline for peas.

In turn, the head of the Parliamentary Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy Oleksandr Haydu adds that farmers can collect 10% less produce than last year.

"Approximately, according to forecasts, farmers can collect about 64 million tons of grain and oil crops. One of the reasons for the decrease is unfavorable weather conditions during sowing," said the parliamentarian.

In general, experts note that significant precipitation, lack of sunny days and a drop in air temperature in the second half of April led to overwetting of the soil. This delayed field work.