According to estimates, the grain harvest in Ukraine this year fell by around 40 percent as a result of the Russian war of aggression. A crop yield of “65 to 66 million tons” is expected by the end of the year, the head of the Ukrainian grain association, Serhiy Ivashchenko, told the AFP news agency yesterday. Last year, the yield reached a record 106 million tons.
The main reason for the decline is the war, explained Ivashchenko. As a result of the Russian invasion of the country, the available acreage has shrunk and the yield of the seeds has declined.
The month-long export blockade on Ukrainian grain “broke a cycle,” said Ivashchenko. Farmers had had no income for a long time – which in turn meant that they did not have enough money to buy fertilizers.
As a result, the yield fell even on those areas that might be farmed despite the war. Ukraine is one of the largest grain exporters in the world. However, following the start of the war, the export of 20 million tons of grain from the country was blocked for months.
