KIEV - Ukrainian farmers have sown 583,200 hectares of early spring grain or 23 percent of the initial area as of March 18, the agriculture ministry said on Friday.
The area included 456,900 hectares of spring barley, 25,100 hectares of wheat and 82,400 hectares of peas, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry has said the spring grains, mostly maize and barley, could eventually cover about 7.5 million hectares, including 2.6 million hectares of early spring crops.
Analyst UkrAgroConsult said last month Ukraine's grain harvest was likely to fall 10 percent to 52.2 million metric tons in 2016 due to a sharp fall in winter wheat output caused by poor weather during sowing.
The wheat harvest is likely to fall to 17.3 million metric tons this year from 24.8 million in 2015, the consultancy said.
