Kyiv | Reuters — Ukrainian farmers plan to increase the 2026 winter grain sowing area to 5.43 million hectares (13.4 million acres) from 5.24 million in 2025, the Economy Ministry said on Tuesday, though dry soils in some areas mean planting has got off to a slow start.
The ministry said the area planted with winter wheat could rise to 4.78 million hectares from 4.5 million in 2025. Winter wheat accounts for more than 95 per cent of the total wheat harvest in Ukraine, a major global supplier of the grain.
Most of Ukraine’s remaining winter grains area is planted with barley and rye.
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Despite plans for a bigger sowing area, analyst ASAP Agri said progress is lagging last year’s pace, when 101,100 hectares had already been planted by the same date.
Most of the sowing carried out so far has been in western and northern regions, while activity in the south and east has been constrained by poor soil moisture.
Rains in late August provided some relief in central and southern regions, briefly improving planting conditions, ASAP Agri said.
However, deep soil moisture remains critically low across much of the steppe zone and early September forecasts see scant rainfall continuing and above-average temperatures, weighing on winter grain sowing and rapeseed emergence.
— Reporting by Pavel Polityuk
