The Ukrainian government forecasts that the harvest next year will increase for virtually all crops.
The grain harvest next year will total 43.5 million tonnes according to the state program for socioeconomic development in 2010 drafted by the Cabinet and published on the web site of the Verkhovna Rada. The harvest this year is projected to total 42.565 million tonnes.
Grain exports in the 2010/2011 harvest year will remain on a par with the current year’s expected total of 16.4 million tonnes.
The sugar beet harvest will total 15 million tonnes next year, up from 10.86 million tonnes this year.
A total of 8.48 million tonnes of seed for oil will be harvested (compared with 8.1 million tonnes this year), including 5.6 million tonnes of sunflower seeds (5.46 million tonnes).
The grape harvest next year will rise 10.3% to 430,000 tonnes, while the fruit and berry harvest will increase 7.7% to 1.4 million tonnes, and the vegetable harvest will rise 7% to 7.5 million tonnes.
Only the potato harvest is expected to decline, to 19.5 million tonnes next year from an expected 19.537 million tonnes this year.
Previously the Agricultural Policy Ministry forecast that the grain harvest would total 45 million tonnes this year, down from 53.3 million tonnes, while exports in the 2009/2010 harvest year would total about 18 million tonnes.
Ukraine exported 25.2 million tonnes of grain in the 2008/2009 harvest year.
