As of May 13, 209 thousand hectares of sugar beets were sown in Ukraine – 5% less than last year.
In addition to the reduction of sown areas, the current season is characterized by unfavorable weather conditions, which, in turn, can significantly affect yields.
“This year’s sowing campaign was much more difficult, because the snowless winter and lack of rainfall significantly reduced the soil moisture and as a result we had dust-storms and dry winds. Then, April drought was replaced by May rainfalls and frosts, and some sugar beet areas in Vinnytsia, Poltava and Khmelnytsk regions were affected by pests. All these factors can negatively affect the development of the root crop, which will lead to loss of root weight and sugar content”, emphasizes Nazar Mikhaylovyn, an “Ukrsugar” analyst.
In the cropping structure, Vinnytsia region traditionally leads – 23% of the total area. The second place is occupied by Poltava region (12.9%), which this year is ahead of Khmelnytsk region – 11.2%. They sowed 27 thousand hectares and 23.3 thousand hectares, respectively. Kyiv region became the fourth in terms of sown areas – 22.5 thousand hectares (10.8%).
“Vinnytsia region remains the leader in terms of sugar beet sown areas, however, this year it has sown 200 hectares less than last year. Also, compared to last year, in Ternopil (by 4.8 thousand hectares) and Volyn region (by 3.1 thousand hectares) the sown areas significantly decreased, too. On the other hand, Central Ukraine increased the sugar beet areas (Cherkasy region – 1.5 thousand hectares, Kirovohrad region – 1.2 thousand hectares and Poltava region – 600 hectares)”, summed up the analyst. (Ukrsugar/Business World Magazine)
