In 1990-2014 period, Ukraine fundamentally changed the structure of planted areas under agricultural crops. In the reporting period, the general planted areas decreased by 16%, and reached 27.2 mln ha in 2014. At the same time, agrarians significantly changed planted areas under certain crops, reported the grain markets analyst at APK-Inform Agency, Andrew Kupchenko.
In particular, by 2014 Ukraine increased the planted areas under industrial crops in more than 2.2 times to the record index of 8.4 mln ha. On the other hand, agrarians reduced the planted areas under forage crops in more than 5.7 times (to the minimum level of 2.1 mln ha).
The areas under grains showed the most stable results (nearly 15 mln ha), but their internal structure also showed significant changes.
Changing the structure of crop production led to significant reorientation of the sales markets. For example, 15 years ago the country processed almost all grain volumes on the domestic market, in order to provide the population with foodstuffs. To date, the share of grain volumes processed in Ukraine decreased to 45% of the harvest volumes. Thus, the market got export-oriented features. At the same time, Ukraine mainly exports grains as raw materials, but not value-added products, said the expert.