Ukraine's IMC finishes winter wheat harvest with record haul

MOSCOW. Aug 6 (Interfax) - Ukrainian agribusiness group IMC has completed harvesting winter wheat, producing 139,800 tonnes at an average yield of 6.9 tonnes per hectare, the company's second highest ever and 60% higher than the average wheat yield in the country, Ukrainian media reported, citing a company post on social media.

The harvest was gathered from 20,200 ha. Most of the winter crop meets the quality standards for food wheat, the company said.

"Weather conditions in the fall of last year facilitated timely planting, even sprouts and tillering of winter wheat. In the spring of this year, we carried out additional fertilization and protection from weeds, diseases and pests in line with the process chart. All operations were carried out on schedule according to the phases of the crop's development and weather conditions," IMC production direction Nikolai Pilipenko was quoted as saying in the press release.

He said harvesting in the Poltava cluster began earlier than usual because of the lack of precipitation needed for optimal crop development. This led to a slight drop in the yield in Poltava region.

"In other regions, in Chernigov and Sumy, weather conditions were more favorable and we significantly exceeded targets for yield and gross winter wheat production," Pilipenko said.

IMC is an integrated agribusiness group that farms crops and has elevators and warehouses in Sumy, Poltava and Chernigov regions in northern and central Ukraine. The group has about 120,000 hectares of land and 554,000 tonnes of storage capacity, and harvested 1.002 million tonnes of grain and oilseeds in 2023.