Since the beginning of the sowing campaign in 2017 (as of April 20), Ukrainian farmers sowed 274.1 thousand ha of sugar beet, which is 1.8% more than at the same date a year earlier.
As reported by ProAgro, it has been reported by Ukrtsukor association.
According to the report, the largest areas under sugar beet were observed in Vinnytsia (54.5 thousand ha), Poltava (36.1 thousand ha), Khmelnytsky (34.5 thousand ha) and Ternopil (22.5 thousand ha) . It is noted that the increase in acreage in 2017 can be observed in the Cherkassy and Poltava regions. In Kharkiv and Poltava regions, households lag far behind in sowing operations, which is due to the poor meteorological conditions.
“An unexpected blow caused by the weather and the Balkan cyclone, which caused some problems during the period of sugar beet planting.This weather, of course, has a negative effect on plantings and shoots of the plants. Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv and Ternopil regions are in the greatest risk zone”, – commented Vasyl Dolinsky, an analyst of Ukrtsukor.
Experts note that sugar beet can withstand a temperature decrease of -3 ° C, but the reason for the unrest is that low soil temperature for a long time hinders the development of seeds and only melted snow can cause freezing of the ice crust and freezing of crops. In regions where the duration of sun time was enough to warm the soil, such problems should not have any negative impacts.
In addition, such a cold spring can lead to an increase in flowering plants in the fields.
“It is still too early to talk about significant losses of the crops from freezing or a significant drop in plant density – real losses could be seen after the first 5-7 days of warming.” Some farms may be forced to re-sow their beet fields. The hydrometeorological center promises warming starting from April 26″, –
Dolinsky explains.
It worth mentioning that according to the analytical department of Ukrtsukor, areas under sugar beet in 2017 will grow by at least 12% and, as a result, will amount to 330-350 thousand ha.
