KIEV, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The severe drought that hit a large part of Ukraine may affect the country's grain harvest, local media reported Monday citing experts.
According to Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Tetyana Adamenko, head of the state weather forecasting center's agricultural department, said that the drought is being observed on 25 percent of the Ukrainian territory.
Three grain-producing regions in southern and eastern Ukraine were affected the most by the dry weather, Adamenko said, without specifying the projected damage to crops.
Meanwhile, other local media, citing agricultural experts, reported that Ukraine may lose between 10 percent and 15 percent of its grain harvest due to the drought.
Earlier this month, the Ukrainian Agriculture Ministry has retained its projection for this year's grain harvest at 60 million tons.
In 2017, Ukrainian farmers harvested 61.3 million tons of crops, down 7.1 percent from a year earlier.
Ukraine is a major supplier of grain to the world market, covering an estimated 17 percent of the global barley exports, 12 percent of corn exports and 10 percent of wheat supplies.
In the 2016-2017 marketing year, the East European country sold overseas 43.8 million tons of cereals.
