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November 23, 1999
UKRAINE: LITTLE IMPROVEMENT FOR WINTER WHEAT
Despite beneficial precipitation around November 19, conditions remain generally unfavorable for winter wheat in south-central Ukraine. (See previous week's assessment.) Dryness has prevailed in the region since September, hampering germination and establishment. The recent showers improved surface-soil moisture conditions in Ukraine’s driest areas. Soaking rain is needed, however – not only in southern Ukraine, but also in central and eastern areas – to fully replenish soil moisture depleted during two months of below-normal rainfall. (Minimum daily temperatures have generally been above freezing in southern Ukraine, but precipitation has been in the form of snow farther north.) According to official reports, roughly one-third of the 7.6 million hectares sown to winter grain in Ukraine either failed to sprout or is currently in poor shape.
Elsewhere in the former Soviet Union, winter-grain conditions are generally favorable. Soil-moisture levels are below average in parts of the North Caucasus and Central Black Earth regions, but adequate moisture was available for winter-crop establishment. Weather data and crop-growth models indicate that winter grains have entered dormancy in the northern areas of the Russian winter-grain region. Farther south, in the prime winter-wheat zone, the crop has either advanced through the hardening stage (in preparation for dormancy), or is still in the tillering stage.
For more information, contact Mark Lindeman with the Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division on (202) 720-0888.
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