Now that 96% of the harvest has been dealt with, Ukraine's grain crops have broken a historic record, the Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry has said.
By 19 November, Ukraine has harvested grain crops and legumes on the area of 14.3m hectares (96% of the forecast), producing 66.4m tonnes of grain, the yield making 4,650 kg per hectare (in 2017 it was 4,180 kg per hectare).
"Given rather favourable weather for late spring crops, our cautious forecasts regarding a record-high harvest over the history of independent Ukraine are starting to come true. A the moment, with grain harvesting still going, we have over 66m tonnes, which is more than the previous highest figure of 2016," First Deputy Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Maksym Martynyuk said.
The 2018 record-high grain production is achieved thanks to corn, which is also expected to hit a historic record of about 34.8m tonnes.
Ukraine has already harvested 31.3m tonnes of corn with the yield making 7,590 kg per hectare (in 2017, it was 5,230 kg per tonne).