The Agriculture Ministry announced on Friday that farmers in six Ukrainian regions, including the central and southern regions, have begun the grain harvest for 2024 by threshing 48,300 metric tonnes.

Due to the hot weather, the harvest began two weeks earlier than normal.

The ministry reported that farmers had threshed a total of 39,900 tonnes of barley at an average yield of 2,98 tons per ha and 7,300 tons peas at a yield 2.2 tons/ha.

The farmers also harvested 1100 tons of grain with a yield per hectare of 2.2 tons.

In a recent announcement, the Ministry increased its estimate for 2024 grain production to 56 million tonnes from the previous estimate of 52,4 million. The combined crop of grains and oilseeds could reach 77 million tonnes.

Harvest could include up to 21 million tons each of wheat, corn and barley.

According to the government, in 2023, about 81 millions tons of grains and oilseeds will be harvested. (Reporting and editing by Jason Neely; Pavel Polityuk)