Agrotrade 10 days delayed on spring crops planting for rains
The rains have delayed the sowing campaign in Agrotrade by at least 10 days. The company started the sowing campaign on 2 April in Sumy and Chernihiv regions with spring cereals and in Kharkiv region with peas. Sunflower and corn sowing started on 10 April.
According to Oleksandr Ovsyanik, Head of Agro-Industrial Department of the company, the current conditions are completely different from those of last year: winter was snowy and with no critical frosts, while spring was cold.
"Although the condition of winter crops is good, it is unsatisfactory for sowing spring crops. The cold spring will be a challenge for herbicides and fungicides since they are less effective at lower temperatures. And plants will not develop as quickly as we would like them to, so we do not expect early emergence", Oleksandr Ovsyanik comments.
In 2021, spring wheat will cover 18.8 thou. ha, corn 17.6 thou. ha.
"Sunflowers will be sown on 11.2 thou. ha, rapeseed on 5 thou. ha and soybeans on 4.6 thou. ha. Sorghum is a new crop for the company this year, it will be sown on 430 ha in Kharkiv region. Agronomists will grow organic crops on 2,500 ha, including corn, sunflower, wheat, mustard, peas, and buckwheat," the message reads.
The company specialists note that the weather conditions are most favourable in Kharkiv region, where the sunflower and corn sowing is coming to an end and work on organic cropland has already been completed. The situation is more challenging in Sumy and Chernihiv regions where in some spots the soil is too moist for machinery to start working.
"We rent additional planters and cultivators so that when the weather gets better, we can catch up with what we've lost in terms of timing. Generally speaking, conditions are not very favourable for the sowing season, but we will adapt. Fortunately, last year taught us a lot, we will apply those agricultural techniques, which proved themselves well," Oleksandr Ovsyanik adds.
As a reminder, Agrotrade tendered early grains harvest services on the online platform Salesbook.
