KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukrainian farmers have harvested 97% of the expected area for 53.7 million tonnes of grain in bunker weight, Reuters reported, citing the agriculture ministry.

The ministry said 11.2 million hectares of crops have been harvested with an average yield of 4.79 tonnes per hectare.

The 2022 wheat and barley harvests are complete with threshing of 20.2 million tonnes of wheat and 5.8 million tonnes of barley.

The total volume included 26.4 million tonnes of corn, harvested from 93% of the expected area, with a yield of 6.7 tonnes per hectare, Reuters reported.

In 2021, Ukraine harvested 32.2 million tonnes of wheat and 9.4 million tonnes of barley.

The fall in output, the ministry said, was caused by hostilities in the country’s eastern, northern and southern regions after Russia’s invasion nearly a year ago.

Ukraine planted more than 6 million hectares of winter wheat in 2022, but a large area was occupied after the invasion, so only 4.9 million hectares were harvested in Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Because of the loss of land to Russia, the government estimates the 2022 crop could total about 51 million tonnes in clean weight, down from 86 million tonnes in 2021.