Pea production in Ukraine will not set a new record

The harvest of peas in Ukraine is in full swing. It is roughly 80% complete. Despite further expansion of Ukraine’s acreage of peas in 2018, their production will not set a new record this year, contrary to earlier expectations, UkrAgroConsult’s analysts report.

Soil moisture shortages during the period of pea growing and ripening had an adverse effect on pea yield (the same concerns other early spring crops in Ukraine). Drought in the Steppe zone of the country, where more than 50% of Ukrainian pea plantings are located, has substantially decreased yield potential of this crop. Pea yields are somewhat better in some regions lying within the Forest and Forest-Steppe zones, but this will not improve the overall situation in Ukraine considerably.

In addition, rains that have fallen in Ukraine over the past two weeks will result in heavier losses while harvesting the remaining peas.

UkrAgroConsult reduced its forecast for this year’s pea production in Ukraine.

It is worth pointing out that Ukrainian exporters shipped abroad a record 870 KMT of peas in the 2017/18 season. Despite import duties, India continued to be the top buyer of Ukrainian peas.