Kavushevska: Sugar beet sowing area in Ukraine may hit lowest level since independence
Due to adverse weather, the sugar beet sowing campaign in Ukraine is slowing down, further complicated by frosts and windstorms. This year, Ukraine may set an anti-record for sugar beet acreage, Yana Kavushevska, Chair of the Board of Ukrsugar, told Latifundist.com.
“Unfortunately, the progress of the sugar beet sowing campaign this year leaves little room for optimism,” she said.
According to Kavushevska, Ukraine is currently experiencing a third wave of frosts, meaning that the earliest sown beet crops have been exposed the longest and suffered the most.
“It is still too early to make forecasts — the picture will become clearer after the current frosts subside. However, we already see more than 3,000 hectares of sugar beet crops ‘blown out’ by dust storms in the West and Southwest that will need to be reseeded. An additional estimated 15% of crops are at risk due to frosts,” she noted.
She added that these are significant volumes given the total sugar beet area this year, which, according to Ukrsugar, stands at only 160,000 hectares. The association believes that not all farms will be willing to reseed sugar beet and may switch to other crops, meaning the final planted area could decrease further.
“Thus, we will have an anti-record — the smallest sugar beet sowing area in Ukraine at least since Ukrsugar was established in 1997, and likely earlier, as in the 1980s–90s Ukraine sowed more than 1.5 million hectares,” Kavushevska concluded.
According to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, sugar beet sowing areas this year are expected to total 197,200 hectares.
